– The triceps consist of three parts—the long, lateral, and medial heads. In addition to locking out the elbows as the other two heads do, the long head also assists with shoulder extension and humeral adduction (drawing the arm down toward the body).

– Triceps need to be trained with compound movements, exercises that start from the stretched position, and moves that emphasize an isometric contraction.

– Included here are stretches for the triceps, and three workouts designed according to the training equipment you have available: dumbbells, bands, or no equipment at all.

– Elbow and shoulder injuries can be gotten around by using shortened ranges of motion and relying on isometric exercises.

3 Killer Triceps Workouts You Can Do At Home

Most people have had to reevaluate their training over the past year. If you went from working out in a fully-equipped commercial gym to clanging around a few dusty dumbbells in your garage, you know how difficult it can be to keep up the variety and intensity you’re used to in your workouts. This is certainly true when it comes to training smaller muscles that we like to use cables and machines for—like triceps. You can figure out how to squat, press, and hinge in your home gym, but how are you supposed to hit the long head of your tri’s without a triceps extension rope and a multi-cable jungle gym?

Nevertheless, training at home can be a blessing in disguise. It gets us out of our rut of using the same old exercises we’re comfortable with—exercises that could actually be setting us up for injury—and forces us to explore the possibilities of bodyweight, band, and dumbbell training. If you’re still working your arms at home, and you’re still stumped on how to hit them effectively with the equipment you’ve got, this article may blow your mind… and blow up your triceps.

Benefits of Working Out Your Triceps

If you’re looking to fill up your shirtsleeves, don’t make the mistake of overemphasizing biceps training. The triceps account for two-thirds of the mass in the upper arm, so tri training should be your priority. Besides having a sweet horseshoe on the back of your arm that shows how hard you work out, there are some functional advantages to developing the triceps to their potential.

For one thing, they act as major assistants on any pressing lifts you do, helping the pecs and shoulders. (Some powerlifters actually argue that the bench press relies more on triceps strength than it does any other muscle.) A press is only considered complete, technically speaking, when the triceps lock out the elbows. Another reason to train tri’s hard is to develop all-around throwing and pushing strength. Baseball pitching, basketball shooting, volleyball spiking, shot putting and more all require powerful triceps action.

To help you understand why, let’s get clear on what the triceps are and how they work.

The triceps brachii is the large muscle that runs along the backside of the humerus (upper-arm bone) and consists of three portions, called heads.

Long head. This is the innermost part of the muscle. It’s unique among the triceps heads because it originates on the shoulder blade, and that means that it can help extend the shoulder joint and draw the arm in toward the body, as well as extend the elbow.

Lateral Head. The outermost portion of the triceps, the lateral head originates on the humerus and ends at the ulna (forearm bone). It only works to extend the elbow.

Medial head. Though it’s largely obscured by the other two heads, the medial head starts just below the lateral head on the humerus and inserts on the ulna. It helps form the upper part of the triceps’ horseshoe shape and, like the lateral head, works to lock out the elbow.

Fun fact: “Ceps” is a derivative of the Latin term for head, so, when referring to a muscle, bi-, tri-, or quad- will signal the number of separate units in that muscle.

The triceps having three heads means that small details in our training will adjust the amount of tension that’s placed on one head versus another. These can range from the angle of our movement to the type of grip we use on an exercise. It also means, as mentioned in the explanation of the long head’s function, that the triceps are a more nuanced muscle than most people realize, and they don’t just work to extend the elbow. The shoulder extension and humeral adduction component (drawing the arm down) is important to train as well when looking to develop both function and aesthetics. The triceps, in effect, support the humerus in the shoulder joint. With shoulder injuries being so prevalent, and a lack of stability in the shoulder being a common cause, training the triceps’ long head is critical for supporting the rest of your upper-body training. 

How Can I Build Strong Tri’s Without Weights? 

Most of the classic moves we are accustomed to utilizing to build the triceps require equipment that’s a little on the fancy side—cables, triceps machines, and fixed-weight EZ-curl bars. Those options may offer a wider array of triceps training possibilities, but they aren’t necessarily any more effective than what you can do with your bodyweight alone. Solid tri work comes down to making sure you check off three boxes in your program:

1. Use compound movements

2. Include exercises that start from the stretched position

3. Create isometric tension in the triceps

Here’s what all that means…

Compound Movements

Aka multi-joint lifts, compound movements are those that involve more than one joint, meaning that they recruit more overall muscle than single-joint isolation moves. Presses and pushup variations qualify here. To put on size, you have to progressively overload a muscle over time, increasing the loads you use and the number of reps you can perform with those loads. Since compound movements use more muscle (it’s OK to involve some muscles other than the triceps when targeting triceps gains, such as the pecs) and allow for heavier loading, they should be the foundation of any training program.

There’s a safety benefit to training compound lifts too. Going heavy on an isolation exercise like a kickback or machine extension puts a high level of stress on the elbow joint. The risk-to-reward ratio isn’t good. Compound movements, however, distribute the stress of the load over multiple joints, taking pressure off the elbow while still loading up the triceps.

Starting from the Stretch

Most exercises don’t begin with the target muscle in a stretched position. We don’t start squats or barbell bench presses from the bottom. But with triceps, you can start with the muscle fully stretched, such as when the arm is overhead and the elbow bent for an overhead extension movement (this can be done with a band when no weights are available). Starting from a stretched position makes the triceps work hard from the very beginning of the exercise, as they have to overcome the mechanical disadvantage of being all stretched out to extend the elbow. For the best triceps development, you need to include some overhead extension work that starts with the muscles on stretch.

Isometric Tension

An isometric muscle contraction occurs when the triceps tense but the arm doesn’t bend or extend, such as at the halfway point of a dip or pushup. Isometrics can also train the triceps’ function as a shoulder stabilizer—a rare thing in muscle-building programs. Including some isometric work in your program ensures well-rounded triceps training that not only pumps up the muscle but helps prevent injury.

How To Stretch Your Triceps 

Regularly stretching can give you access to more range of motion, and ultimately add to the lifespan of your training. Use these stretches before and/or after your workout to promote mobility in the triceps and reduce the risk of injury.

Kneeling Bench Stretch 

Sets: 3  Time: Hold 30 seconds  Rest: 30 seconds

Step 1. Kneel on the floor and rest your elbows on a bench or box. Tuck your tailbone so that your pelvis is perpendicular to the floor, and brace your core. Your body should form a straight line from your head to your hips.

Step 2. From here, sit back into the hips so the arms become extended overhead and you feel a stretch in the triceps. Hold this position with a tall posture.

Banded Overhead Stretch

Sets: 3 (each side)  Time: 30 seconds  Rest: 30 seconds

Step 1. Stand on one end of an exercise band with your left foot and grasp the other end with your left hand. Draw your left shoulder back and down and brace your core.

Step 2. Raise your arm overhead and allow the band to bend your elbow and gently pull your arm backward to stretch your triceps.

Static Cross-body Stretch 

Sets: 3 (each side)  Time: 30 seconds  Rest: 30 seconds

Step 1. Draw one arm across the front of your body. With the other hand, get a firm grip near the elbow and gently pull the arm tight to the body. To feel it more in your triceps than your shoulder, hold the arm closer to your hand than your elbow.

Triceps Workouts You Can Do At Home With and Without Weights

Do you have dumbbells? Then you can get a great triceps workout. Just an exercise band or two? That’s fine. Only your bodyweight alone? No problem. Here’s a routine for each situation.

Workout #1: Dumbbells

If you have a set of dumbbells and a bench at the house, you have more than enough to get a strong triceps workout. Dumbbells allow your hands and arms to go where they naturally want to, and that’s healthier for your shoulders, elbows, and wrists than using a barbell, which fixes their paths of movement. One of the most common reasons we get aches and pains after years of lifting is due to using fixed paths of motion for too long. Dumbbells accommodate your body, rather than the other way around.

Directions

Perform the exercises in the order shown. Complete all sets for one move before going on to the next. Do this workout on its own, or at the end of a session for other muscle groups.

1. Dumbbell Kickback

These have long been a staple for triceps training. The bent-over position helps you train core stability in conjunction with the triceps’ elbow extension.

Sets: 4  Reps: 12  Rest: 90 seconds

Step 1. Hold a dumbbell in each hand and stand with feet shoulder-width apart. Keeping a straight line between your head, spine, and pelvis, bend your hips back and lower your torso toward the floor. Bend your knees as needed until your upper body is nearly parallel to the floor. Brace your core. Row the dumbbells up so that your upper arms are in line with your torso and your elbows are bent 90 degrees.

Step 2. From this position, extend your elbows to lockout. Slowly return the weight back to the starting position. That’s one rep.

2. Neutral-Grip Bench Press

Dips are a popular triceps exercise, but if you don’t have bars to dip on at your house, or you have a history of shoulder problems, they’re out of the question. Doing dumbbell bench presses with a neutral grip—palms facing in—places less stress on the front side of the shoulder than dips, but mimic the movement to provide great triceps activation.

Sets: 4  Reps: 10  Rest: 90 seconds

Step 1. Hold a dumbbell in each hand and lie on the bench with feet firmly in contact with the floor. Hold the dumbbells with palms facing each other while your head, shoulders, and butt are in contact with the bench.

Step 2. From the bottom position, press the dumbbells up, directly over your body, until your arms are fully extended. Lower the weights back down with control, tucking your elbows near your sides. That’s one rep.

3. Single-Arm Tate Press

The Tate Press is a great option you can perform either on the ground or on a bench. Working one side at a time creates a balance challenge that emphasizes the core, while the internally rotated arm movement stresses the lateral triceps’ head the most strongly.

Sets: 4 (each side)  Reps: 12  Rest: 90 seconds

Step 1. Hold a light dumbbell in one hand and lie back on a bench. Press the weight above you as in a dumbbell chest press so your elbow is locked out.

Step 2. With your palm facing toward your feet, allow the elbow to bend and slowly lower the weight toward the center of your chest. Stabilize your upper arm so only your forearm is moving. When the weight touches your chest, extend your elbow again. That’s one rep.

Workout #2: Bands 

Bands are budget-friendly, take up minimal space, and can travel with you. One advantage to using them over free weights is the accommodating resistance they provide. That is, as the band stretches, the tension on it increases, making the movement more difficult as you complete the rep. This is ideal for triceps training. On most press or extension exercises with free weights, the load feels easier to lift the closer you get to lockout. But with a band, you have to work harder to overcome the resistance.

Directions

Perform the exercises in the order shown. Complete all sets for one move before going on to the next. Do this workout on its own, or at the end of a session for other muscle groups.

1. Close-Grip, Hands-Elevated Pushup

Similar to the neutral-grip bench press, this move mimics dips while minimizing stress on the front of the shoulder. The hands-elevated position also allows you to focus less on pushing up and more on pushing through the triceps.

Sets: 4  Reps: 20  Rest: 90 seconds

Step 1. Get into pushup position with your hands on a bench or other sturdy elevated surface. Your hands should be stacked under your shoulders while your body forms a straight line. Brace your core.

Step 2. Lower your body toward the bench in a slow and controlled motion. Once you reach the bench, press away by focusing on your triceps. That’s one rep.

2. Banded Triceps Kickback

Using a band for the kickback makes the movement even more effective than with a dumbbell, because the band tension makes the triceps work harder throughout the range of motion. Take advantage of the extra tension in the finish (elbows extended) position by holding an isometric contraction for a moment or two.

Sets: 4  Reps: 15  Rest: 90 seconds

Step 1. Loop the center of a band around the foot of a bench or other sturdy object, and grasp an end in each hand. Set up as you did for the dumbbell kickback (see above).

Step 2. From the hinged position, extend the arms against the tension of the band. Hold the extended position for a count of 2 before slowly returning to the starting position. That’s one rep.

3. Overhead Triceps Extension

This exercise starts with the triceps stretched, making it extra challenging. It not only builds strength in the tall-kneeling position, it improves shoulder mobility, and tests the core as well.

Sets: 4  Reps: 15  Rest: 90 seconds

Step 1. Kneel down on the floor and wrap the center of a band around your ankles. Grasp the ends with both hands and reach your arms overhead, allowing the band to pull your elbows bent. Straighten up so that you’re in a tall-kneeling position, and brace your core.

Step 2. Extend the arms up overhead, and hold for a count of 2. Slowly return the arms back to the flexed position where you began. That’s one rep.

Workout #3: Bodyweight

Don’t underestimate a bodyweight workout when it comes to hitting the triceps. If you don’t have the machines and free weights to hit the muscle from all angles, you can adjust the way you position your body to put maximum tension on the tri’s.

Directions

Perform the exercises in the order shown. Do this workout on its own, or at the end of a session for other muscle groups.

1. Kickstand Single-Arm Pushup

If you can do a true single-arm pushup, congratulations—you’re awesome. But in most cases, it ends up being a half-assed, half-rep joke. However, by elevating one hand slightly and extending the other one for support (kind of like a kickstand on a bike), a single-arm pushup can become less of a balancing act and more of a focused triceps- and chest-builder.

Sets: 4 (each side)  Reps: 8  Rest: 90 seconds

Step 1. Rest one arm on a raised surface (we used a kettlebell, but if you have no equipment, a low box or step is fine). Extend the other arm out to your side—it’s OK if only your fingertips reach the floor. Your body should form a straight line from your head to your feet.

Step 2. Slowly lower your body, tucking the arm that’s raised about 45 degrees to the body. Go down until your chest is level with, or just below, the surface you’re balancing on. Drive your hand into the surface to push yourself back up to the starting position. That’s one rep.

2. Fold Press

This pushup-esque move highlights triceps extension while also challenging shoulder stability. Think: long head of the triceps.

Sets: 4  Reps: 15  Rest: 90 seconds

Step 1. Place your hands on a raised surface, such as a low box or step. Get into pushup position with your shoulders directly over your hands. Draw your shoulders back and down—think: proud chest—and brace your core.

Step 2. Slowly lower your body by allowing the elbows to fold back under your midsection. From the bottom, drive your hands into the surface, extending your arms to return to the pushup position. That’s one rep.

3. Triceps-Focused Plank

Take your traditional plank up a notch. Shifting the pressure from the full forearm to the wrist and hand brings more triceps into the equation (in an isometric contraction). Meanwhile, your core is still working hard to stabilize the whole body.

Sets: 4  Time: 30 seconds  Rest: 90 seconds

Step 1. Get into a pushup position with your hands on a raised surface. Your body should form a straight line—pelvis perpendicular to the floor, and core braced. Lower your forearms to the surface but let your elbows hang from the edge, unsupported.

Step 2. Maintain this position, engaging the triceps isometrically to keep your elbows from sinking.

Triceps Exercise Alternatives If You’re Injured

Triceps work can be very demanding on the elbows. You have to remember that these joints get stressed significantly from your shoulder and chest pressing exercises, so additional work that locks out the elbows can lead to overuse injury. In addition, the pulling motions you use when you train back or biceps can irritate the elbows over time as well. Of course, you can train your chest, shoulders, back, bi’s and triceps in the same week—you just have to organize your workouts so that you can recover.

One strategy is to avoid doing elbow extension work too frequently. Try keeping it all on one training day. Working your chest, shoulders, and triceps in the same session (called a “push day”, because it covers all the pushing muscles) would allow you several days to recover before you work any elbow extension movement again. The rest of your training week can consist of a pull day—back and biceps exercises together—and a leg day, before the cycle repeats.

You should also consider how many heavy triceps exercises you do. If you’re already performing several heavy pressing exercises, you don’t need to max out your tri’s on barbell overhead or lying extensions. Go lighter for higher reps.

Heavy pressing often leads to injured shoulders as well as elbows/triceps. But the solution can be as simple as avoiding the ranges of motion that hurt while your injuries heal. See below for three examples of how you can train triceps pain-free.

1. Straight-Arm Banded Pulldown (Elbow Pain)

If your elbows are bothering you, don’t take them through a full range of motion for presses and extensions for a while. You can focus on the shoulder extension and stability component that the long head of the triceps provides. The straight-arm banded pulldown works the long head with hardly any movement at the elbow, and recruits the lats as well for some extra back work.

Sets: 4  Reps: 12  Rest: 90 seconds

Step 1. Attach a band to the top of a power rack or other sturdy object, and grasp the open loop with both hands. Hinge your hips back while maintaining a tall posture and driving your shoulder blades down and together to create tension in the back and arms. Your hands should be at face level.

Step 2. With arms extended, pull your hands down toward your hip pockets. Pause at the bottom, and slowly return to the starting position. That’s one rep.

2. Modified Landmine Press (Shoulder Pain)

A standard barbell overhead press can wreak havoc on achy shoulders, but pressing with a landmine unit can take pressure off the joints while still allowing you to train hard and heavy. With a landmine (a metal sleeve for the bar, attached to a rotating pivot point), you can press on an arc, so the bar moves more in front of you than overhead. This reduces the direct stress the shoulders are placed under.

Sets: 4 (each side)  Reps: 8  Rest: 90 seconds

Step 1. Load one end of a barbell into a landmine unit, or use a corner of the room (wrap a towel around the end of the bar to help protect the walls). Get into a half-kneeling position behind the bar—feet hip-width apart, both knees bent 90 degrees, and your pelvis parallel to the floor. Grasp the end of the bar with the hand that’s on the same side as the grounded knee, and hold it at shoulder level. Tuck your elbow in tight to your body.

Step 2. Keeping a tall torso, press the bar overhead. Focus on extending the arm at the elbow. Note that the bar will move on an arc, and you won’t finish with the arm straight overhead. That’s one rep.

3. Modified Triceps Plank (Elbow and Shoulder Pain)

If both your shoulders and elbows hurt, work on training the triceps’ long head while restricting motion at both joints. Doing a plank against a wall fits the bill perfectly, as your triceps and shoulders have to work isometrically to keep you from collapsing, but there’s little stress on either joint.

Sets: 4  Time: Hold 30 seconds  Rest: 60 seconds

Step 1. Place the bottom of your fists against a wall and walk your feet back until you feel your hands supporting most of your weight. Only your fists should touch the wall—don’t allow your elbows to rest. Tuck your tailbone slightly and brace your core. Keep driving your hands into the wall as you hold the position for time. When complete, push yourself away from the wall back to stand back up. That’s one set.

Get more at-home workouts for arms.

The post 3 Killer Triceps Workouts You Can Do At Home appeared first on Onnit Academy.

Adding another 20 or 30 pounds to your bench is often just a matter of increasing your lockout strength—the top portion of the range of motion where the triceps take over and lock out your elbows.

That’s exactly why JM Blakley, a former elite-level bench press specialist, invented the exercise 20+ years ago.

Inserting the JM press into your weekly routine could mean going from a weight that staples you to the bench to one you’re lifting for reps in short order. You’ll also gain some triceps size in the process, which will go a long way toward making you look like a strong bencher.

What Is the JM Press?

The JM press is essentially a cross between a close-grip bench press and a barbell skull crusher (triceps extension)—both of which are hallmark strength- and mass-gaining exercises for the triceps.

In the close-grip bench press, the lifter uses a narrower grip than on the conventional bench press—such as hands at shoulder-width, or slightly inside—to emphasize triceps involvement over the chest and shoulders. With the skull crusher, the bar is lowered to the forehead, putting a stretch on the triceps to increase activation. The JM press puts both exercises together in a movement that works the triceps in the range of motion they use to lock out the elbows in the last few inches of a bench press rep, when the weight is going up overhead. This makes it very specific to bench press gains, and, therefore, a popular exercise among powerlifters.

In an interview with Dave Tate (powerlifting coach and founder of EliteFTS), JM Blakley said the following, when recalling how he came to invent his namesake exercise: “I’m super big on recovery… I couldn’t do three, or four, or even two triceps exercises after a while, because the [cumulative] load was so much… So how can I get the value of a skull crusher and a close-grip bench and not have to do both of them? I blended them together.”

In other words, the JM press was an efficiency hack to get the most out of two great bench press-building exercises for the price of one.

“A close-grip bench press normally comes to the lower part of your chest, and a skull crusher ends at the top of the forehead,” says Julia Ladewski Anto, CSCS, a strength and conditioning coach to powerlifters, athletes, and CrossFitters of various ages, and an elite powerlifter herself (julialadewski.com). “With the JM Press, you’re looking to bring the bar to the chin/neck area.” [Exactly where you bring the bar largely depends on the length of your upper and lower arms, as you’ll see in the description below.]

Benefits of the JM Press

When powerlifters do an exercise specifically for the triceps, it’s usually to increase lockout strength for the bench press. This is certainly the case with the JM press. Most lifters will stall somewhere past the halfway point as they press the bar up. This is known as the sticking point. The JM press was Blakely’s solution to the problem, as it strengthens the triceps at precisely the point where they would normally be unable to extend the elbows with a heavy load.

“I’d put the JM press into a training program for someone who needs to build pure triceps strength,” says Anto. “I would gear it more toward powerlifters and those looking to improve their bench press.” Conventional triceps exercises like cable pushdowns and kickbacks, she says, are fine for building triceps muscle size, but they won’t develop strength that’s specific to the bench press, mainly because the movement mechanics are too different. Another advantage of the JM press over more conventional triceps moves: loading potential.

“You can move more weight on JM presses than on a skull crusher,” says Anto, “and really push the limit on that lower part of the triceps [where the muscle inserts into the elbow]. It may take a few sessions to feel out the movement pattern, but once you’re aware of where on the triceps you should be feeling it, you’re golden.”

While the JM press was really intended for powerlifting training, that isn’t to say that it can’t or shouldn’t be used by those who merely want bigger arms. “It can definitely be used for hypertrophy [muscle gain],” says Anto. “It will overload the triceps, which can create some solid density in those muscles.” 

However, Anto says novice lifters may be better served with more standard triceps exercises. “Beginners and general gym goers can get more benefit with greater ease of movement by using close-grip presses, dumbbell presses, and various skull crusher variations,” she says. “I just can’t justify having a general population person use the JM press when there’s a larger learning curve to actually get something out of it.” As you’ll see below, the JM press is a fairly technical lift that needs to be done precisely to see gains, so attempt it only after you’ve gained some experience with the bench press and its more common assistance lifts.

What Muscles Does the JM Press Work?

The JM press is used to target the triceps, but there is some movement at the shoulders, which makes it a compound exercise that works the pecs and delts a bit as well.

“The [muscle involvement] really depends on how you perform the exercise,” says Anto. “I’ve seen it doctored over the years and morph into various things from how it was originally intended. The original way the exercise was performed was meant to focus on the triceps—specifically the lower part of the triceps, near the elbow—and you tried to keep any shoulder rotation out of it.” This is the version we’ll describe how to do below.

Of the three heads of the triceps brachii muscle, the JM press emphasizes the lateral head the most, similar to how a close-grip bench press acts on the muscle. The lateral head is the portion of the muscle that runs down the outer side of your arm, and mostly accounts for its horseshoe appearance when well developed. FYI, the long head and medial head of the triceps (on the inner/medial side of the arm) are targeted with overhead and reverse-grip elbow extension movements, respectively. It’s not that the JM press won’t activate these areas, but it doesn’t recruit them as well.

Research confirms that the triceps are involved to a greater extent when doing barbell presses with a narrow grip versus a wide one. The JM press falls in the narrow-grip category. Furthermore, researchers have found that the triceps’ lateral head is highly active during the top portion of a bench press.

How to Properly Do the JM Press

Here’s how to perform the JM press as originally intended by its creator, JM Blakley.

Step 1. Use a bench press station, or lie back on a bench that’s situated in a power rack, making sure you’re scooted forward enough so that the bar is behind your head when it’s racked (not over your face).

Step 2. Grasp the barbell with hands roughly shoulder-width apart. For most people, this will mean hands 15–16 inches apart—a narrower grip than you’d use for a standard bench press. For the highest degree of safety, keep your thumbs wrapped around the bar.

Step 3. Unrack the bar and begin with your arms fully extended overhead. Make sure the bar is stacked over your wrists and forearms. Don’t let your wrists roll backward into extension.

Step 4. Tuck your elbows about 45 degrees from your sides and point them forward (toward your feet). They should stay in front of the bar throughout the exercise. Bend your elbows and lower the bar, under control, straight down to somewhere between the very top of your upper chest and your chin; a lot of coaches cue to lower the bar to the throat.

Step 5. When your forearms and biceps touch each other, that’s the end of the range of motion. For those with bigger arms (particularly large biceps), the stopping point will be roughly 90 degrees of elbow flexion; others may go past 90 degrees, but there’s no need to touch the bar all the way to your chin/throat/upper chest.

Step 6. From the bottom of the rep, extend your elbows to explosively press the bar straight up (not in an arc like a standard bench press). “Because of the way the bar moves,” says Anto, “you’re going to have to cock your wrists up a bit, then punch your hands toward the ceiling.” That is, actively flex your wrists as you lower the bar to keep them straight, and maintain that tension as you press the bar.

Sets/Reps/Load

The JM press is most effectively used with relatively heavy weights, but you need to work up to such loading gradually. As Blakley notes in this video, when starting out with the exercise, it’s best to go very light and do a higher number of total reps to learn the movement and practice technique. Specifically, he recommends 4–6 sets of 10 reps, using “extremely light weight.” Do this once a week for a month or so before moving onto heavier loads.

When you’re sure you’ve got the form down, try Blakley’s go-to set/rep scheme: 4 sets of 6 reps, using the heaviest weight that you can handle for roughly six reps on your first set. As you fatigue, you’ll inevitably get fewer reps on the subsequent sets, but stick with the same weight until you can do all 4 sets for 6 reps.

The JM press should be the first exercise you do for triceps in whichever workout you train them. In other words, if you’re doing an arm day, do the JM press as your first triceps exercise, so you’re fresh and can give it your best focus. If you train triceps on the same day you bench press, do the bench press first, and then the JM press.

Safety Tips for the JM Press

The JM press is an unorthodox (some would say awkward) exercise that, if done carelessly, can place excessive strain on the elbows. As mentioned above, start off very light and keep the overall volume in check. Limit your frequency on the JM press to only once per week.

“Take it slow,” Blakley told Dave Tate in their interview. “Build it into your program [gradually]… It builds so much tendon strength, but that takes time.”

Anto echoes these sentiments, but she doesn’t necessarily consider the JM press to be any more dangerous than other related exercises.

“It’s a different movement pattern, so it takes practice to get that right, and then to get it right enough to be able to load it and actually get something out of it,” she says. “Sure, if you load too heavy, too fast, the bar could fall on your face, but then again, so can a bench press or a skull crusher. I’d be more concerned about loading slowly and getting used to the stress that’s placed on the triceps tendon, as it can feel a little taxed afterward. Start slowly and work up.”

Can I Use Dumbbells?

As an exercise that’s specifically intended to boost bench press strength, the JM press’s most effective application is with a barbell. But can you use dumbbells instead if you’re training at home, or for whatever reason would rather not use a bar?

“Possibly,” says Anto, “but I think it would be a little more awkward than it already is, since you’d have two individual weights [to stabilize]. The straight line of the barbell allows you to stay a little more balanced and in control. That’s not to say it can’t be done, but again, the exercise was meant to be loaded heavy, and I don’t know if you could get the same movement pattern or loading with dumbbells as you could with the barbell.”

A JM press done with dumbbells, then, may be a useful exercise for triceps muscle mass, but it wouldn’t have much carryover to benching max weight.

Great JM Press Alternatives

The JM Press is a highly unique exercise, so it’s hard to find a comparable move that targets the same movement path and muscles.

“To this day, I’ve never done an exercise that directly stretches that lower triceps tendon like JM Presses,” says Anto. “Most alternatives would be some type of close-grip press or floor press, but now you’re getting into shoulder and chest work as well.”

That said, if you’re not a seasoned bencher who’s already putting up huge numbers, you probably don’t need anything fancy to see gains.

Close-Grip Bench Press

Start with the standard close-grip bench press, which will train your triceps to contribute more to the movement, thereby boosting your lockout strength.

How To Close-Grip Bench Press

Step 1. Lie on the bench and arch your back, pulling your shoulder blades down and together. Grasp the bar at shoulder width or just inside, and pull it out of the rack.

Step 2. Take a deep breath, tighten your glutes, and lower the bar to your sternum, tucking your elbows to your sides at 45 degrees on the descent. When the bar touches your body, push your feet into the floor and press the bar up at the same time.

Close-Grip Board Press

Bench presses of any kind can be done with a board (a block of wood with a handle) held against the chest to shorten the range of motion. This allows you to work just the lockout range and train even heavier to strengthen it maximally. Board presses can be done with a standard bench press grip, but to target the triceps to a greater extent, Anto recommends close-grip board presses.

“Sometimes you need to do an exercise that will allow you to handle weights near your max,” says Anto, “which will allow your nervous system to adapt to moving that weight on a regular basis.” She recommends using two to three boards depending on your arm length (longer-armed lifters need more boards to keep the exercise in the triceps’ main range of motion). “You’re looking for slightly less range of motion so you can load, but you don’t want it so high that you aren’t stressing the triceps.”

How to do the Close-Grip Board Press

Step 1. Lie back on the bench and grasp the bar with a shoulder-width grip (or slightly narrower), and have a partner place two to three wooden boards on the middle of your chest. Have your partner hold the boards in place on your chest throughout the set. If you don’t have a partner to hold the boards for you, you can use Repboards (repelbullies.com), as shown here, which are hard foam boards that you can clip onto your torso. (Yet another option is to stuff a foam roller under your shirt, so that the roller stops the bar a few inches above your chest.)

Step 2. Unrack the bar, and slowly lower it to the boards, keeping your elbows tucked so that your upper arms are at a roughly 45-degree angle with your torso. On a close-grip bench press (unlike the JM Press), the bar should be lowered toward the lower portion of the pecs.

Step 3. When the bar touches the boards, explosively press back up in a slightly backward arc until the bar is directly over your face.

JM Board Press

This is just a reduced-range JM press, allowing you to zone in on the lockout even more.

How to do the JM Board Press

Step 1. Perform the JM press as described above, but have a partner place two to three boards on your chest as explained in the close-grip board press. (Or use Repboards, or a foam roller.)

The post How to Properly Do the JM Press: Get Stronger & Bigger appeared first on Onnit Academy.

A couple of exercise bands, light dumbbells, and your own bodyweight are all that’s needed to keep your guns loaded when more sophisticated training seems out of reach.

Benefits of Stronger Arms

Some trainers think of big arms as being merely ornamental. They look good, but don’t offer any functional benefit that helps one be more athletic or strong. However, John Rusin, PT, DPT, CSCS, a strength coach and creator of the Pain-Free Performance Specialist Certification (DrJohnRusin.com), says that outlook couldn’t be more wrong. “Straight up, whoever says arm training isn’t functional can’t be trusted,” says Rusin. “Since the arms indeed have muscles, and act as an integral connection point between the hands and shoulders, they should be trained in order to gain, maintain, and maximize force and muscle recruitment in all types of activities.”

It should be obvious that bigger, stronger arms can help you push and pull harder. Any strong bench presser can tell you that the triceps contribute greatly to the lift. In fact, you couldn’t lock out a heavy weight without them. Throwing, punching, and even dribbling a basketball all require triceps strength and coordination. Biceps strength, meanwhile, goes in tandem with grip strength, so any athlete who relies on holding on to something or someone (rock climbers, grapplers, American Ninja Warriors) can benefit from doing a few curls. Of course, big arms are also impressive to behold, and can give an athlete a mental edge when he/she shows up to competition. Even if it’s just a friendly game of pick-up basketball or flag football, whom would you be more nervous to guard—the guy with guns like Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, or the one with arms like drink stirrers? Which one looks tougher and harder?

How Can I Build Arm Muscles Without Weights?

Effective arm training can be done with your bodyweight alone. Chinups and pushups may be known primarily as back and chest exercises, but they also work the biceps and triceps, respectively. However, if you really want to expand your arm-training options at home, without investing in an elaborate gym setup, get yourself a few types of exercise bands. Bands will allow you to better isolate your arms for traditional curl and pushdown/extension movements that provide more overload directly to the biceps and triceps.

The best exercise bands are circular (loop) bands—not the paper-thin elastic ones your physical therapist gave you to rehab your shoulder, or the purple ones that come with handles you see in drug stores. The bands on elitefts.com are much more durable and versatile than what you’ll find in your local sporting goods store, so we recommend you shop there. Pairs of micro, mini, and light bands should have you covered.

Bands like this can provide as much resistance as free weights, and can be adjusted to suit a variety of exercises. Anchor them to a pipe, desk, or the floor under your feet, and hold a loop in each hand (or one), or grasp anywhere else on the band to add or reduce resistance. Bands make exercises harder at the point in the range of motion where you’re strongest, and ease up where you’re weak. This makes for joint-friendly training that’s less likely to aggravate any injuries you have.

Think about doing a pushup with a band around your back and your hands securing the loop ends to the floor. As you press yourself up, you put more stretch on the band, which adds resistance to your chest, shoulders, and triceps. Just when the exercise would normally be getting easier (as you lock out your elbows), the band makes it more challenging. So, if you have shoulder problems, the pushup will feel harder once the bulk of the stress is off your shoulders.

How To Stretch Your Arms Before Exercising

Use the following mobility drills to warm up and mobilize your shoulders and elbows before any arm routine. Perform 2–3 sets of 5–10 reps for each move.

Arm screw

Raffiki elbow circles

Inverted pushup rotation

Arm Workouts You Can Do At Home With and Without Weights

There are four workouts that follow, courtesy of Rusin. Two are focused on the biceps, and two on the triceps. They require at least two different types of bands and some light dumbbells, and maybe a broomstick or other bar-like apparatus you should be able to rig up without much trouble. We’ll attack each muscle group with two different styles of training—metabolic stress, which is a fancy science term for getting a pump, and mechanical tension, which means forcing the muscles to overcome greater amounts of resistance and activate the greatest number of muscle fibers.

The pump workouts fill the muscles with blood, which drives nutrients into them and, scientists think, may send the body the message that the muscle cells need to expand (grow) to avoid injury. The mechanical tension-focused sessions emphasize strength. Some exercises in both types of workouts will challenge other muscles while hitting the arms, giving you even greater results for your efforts. These include the bent-over banded row with underhand grip, which doubles as a back move, and the bridge-hold banded underhand curl, a glute exercise.

Other lifts will hit your arms in ways you never thought possible, and are ideal for people who have only light dumbbells at home, or exercise bands. The thumbs-up Y raise may look like a delt exercise, but it will hit the long head of your biceps—the one responsible for the biceps “peak” when you flex your arm. Though it looks like a trap move, the bent-arm shrug forces you to contract your biceps isometrically throughout the set. It will burn like fire after a few reps.

“These workouts are quick hitters that target all aspects of the biceps and triceps from both an aesthetic and functional standpoint,” says Rusin. “Get ready for one hell of a pump. One that will get you bigger, stronger, and downright more functional in the process.”

Arm Workout #1 – Pump Emphasis Biceps w/ Bands, Dumbbells, and Bodyweight

Perform the paired exercises (marked A and B) as supersets. So you’ll do one set of A, then immediately do one set of B, rest as prescribed, and repeat until sets are completed for the pair. Exercises that are not marked with a letter are done alone—complete all sets for the move before going on to the next exercise.

For the banded exercises, be sure to choose a band that allows you the number of reps that are prescribed. If your band is too light, choke up on it to provide more tension. If it feels too heavy, try to reduce the tension by sitting or kneeling. The banded exercises may also be performed with dumbbells as a replacement.

1A Banded Rotating Biceps Curl

Sets: 5  Reps: 20  Rest: 0 sec.

Step 1. Pick up a circle band and grasp an end in each hand. Stand on the center of the band so it’s secured to the floor. Stand tall with your abs braced and pelvis level with the floor. Your palms should face in to your sides.

Step 2. Curl the band, rotating your palms outward as you come up, so that you lift against the resistance of the band.

1B Alternating Thumbs-Up Y Raise

Sets: 5  Reps: 20 (each side)  Rest: 30 sec.

Step 1. Hold a light dumbbell in each hand and stand tall. Keeping your shoulders drawn back and down (think “proud chest”), raise one weight up to eye level with your palm facing in (thumb pointing up).

Step 2. Lower your arm and repeat on the opposite side. If you don’t have any dumbbells, this exercise can be performed with two bands in the same fashion. Stand on one loop, and grip the opposite one.

2 Bent-Over Banded Row w/ Underhand Grip

Sets: 4  Reps: As many as possible  Rest: 45 sec.

Step 1. Grasp an end of the band in each hand with your palms facing up and stand on the center of it to secure it to the floor. Draw your shoulders back and down and bend your hips back until your torso is close to parallel to the floor. Your head, spine, and pelvis should be in a straight line.

Step 2. Row the band to your belly.

3A Bridge-Hold Banded Underhand Biceps Curl

Sets: 3  Reps: 10  Rest: 0 sec.

Step 1. Sit on the floor and loop one end of a band under one foot. Run the band over your waist and secure the other loop under the other foot. Position your feet close to your butt and turn them out about 20 degrees. Tuck your pelvis so that it’s perpendicular to the floor, and brace your core. Grasp the band with both hands, palms facing up.

Step 2. Drive your heels into the floor to bridge your hips up into the air. Be careful not to hyperextend your lower back (keep your core tight).

Step 3. Curl the band while keeping your arms against the floor. Hold the bridge position until you’ve completed all your reps.

3B Wide-Grip, Halfway-Down Pushup Hold

Sets: 3  Reps: Hold 30 sec.  Rest: 60 sec.

Step 1. Get into pushup position with hands outside shoulder width. Your body should form a straight line from your head to your feet, and your pelvis should be perpendicular to the floor, core braced.

Step 2. Lower your body until your chest is halfway to the floor and hold the position.

4 Single-Arm Biceps Stretch

Sets: 1  Reps: Hold 45 sec. (each arm)

Step 1. Grasp a doorframe or other sturdy object with your hand at shoulder level. Step away from the anchor point, turning your body and straightening your arm so that you feel a stretch in your biceps. Hold for 45 seconds, and then switch arms and repeat.

Workout #2 – Pump Emphasis Triceps w/ Bands and Bodyweight

Perform the paired exercises (marked A and B) as supersets. So you’ll do one set of A, then immediately do one set of B, rest as prescribed, and repeat until sets are completed for the pair. Exercises that are not marked with a letter are done alone—complete all sets for the move before going on to the next exercise.

For the banded exercises, be sure to choose a band that allows you the number of reps that are prescribed. If your band is too light, choke up on it to provide more tension. If it feels too heavy, try to reduce the tension by sitting or kneeling.

1A Split-Stance Overhead Banded Triceps Extension

Sets: 5  Reps: 20  Rest: 0 sec.

Step 1. Attach a circle band to a sturdy object overhead and grasp an end in each hand. Step away from the anchor point and raise your arms overhead. Your legs should be staggered. Bend your hips back to put tension on the band.

Step 2. Extend your elbows without moving your upper arms or torso. Switch the front leg on each set.

1B Bent-Over Bodyweight Rear-Delt Raise

Sets: 5  Reps: 20  Rest: 30 sec.

Step 1. Stand with feet shoulder-width apart and bend your hips back until your torso is about 45 degrees to the floor. Your head, spine, and pelvis should all form a straight line. Extend your arms toward the floor.

Step 2. Raise your arms out 90 degrees until they’re parallel to the floor.

2 Feet-Elevated Close-Grip Negative Pushup

Sets: 4  Reps: As many as possible  Rest: 45 sec.

Step 1. Rest your feet on a bench, box, or other elevated surface. Get into pushup position with your hands inside shoulder width, and tuck your pelvis so that it’s perpendicular to your spine.

Step 2. Take three seconds to lower your body until your chest is just above the floor. Push yourself back up, and begin the next rep.

3A 1.5 Rep Between-Bench Bodyweight Dip

Sets: 3  Reps: 10  Rest: 0 sec.

Step 1. Place two benches or chairs parallel to each other and stand in between them. Place a hand on each bench and bend your hips and knees so that you’re suspended by the benches.

Step 2. Lower your body until your upper arms are parallel to the floor, and then press yourself halfway back up. Lower your body again, and then press all the way up. That’s one rep.

3B Pushup Hold

Sets: 3  Reps: Hold 30 sec.  Rest: 60 sec.

Step 1. Get into pushup position with hands shoulder-width apart. Hold the position with your body braced for 30 seconds.

4 Single-Arm Triceps Overhead Stretch

Sets: 1  Reps: Hold 45 sec. (each arm)

Step 1. Reach your arm overhead and bend the elbow. With your free hand, gently pull on the elbow until you feel a stretch in your triceps. Repeat on the opposite side.

Workout #3 – Strength Emphasis Biceps w/ Bands and Bodyweight

Perform the paired exercises (marked A and B) in alternating fashion. So you’ll do one set of A, rest as prescribed, then one set of B, rest, and repeat until sets are completed for the pair. Exercises that are not marked with a letter are done alone—complete all sets for the move before going on to the next exercise.

For the banded exercises, be sure to choose a band that allows you the number of reps that are prescribed. If your band is too light, choke up on it to provide more tension. If it feels too heavy, try to reduce the tension by sitting or kneeling.

1A Banded Inverted Row w/ Underhand Grip

Sets: 5  Reps: 12  Rest: 15 sec.

Step 1. Set a barbell, broomstick, or other sturdy bar at about waist height. Wrap a band around your hips and secure each end with a heavy object. Grasp the bar with hands shoulder-width apart and palms facing up. Bend your knees 90 degrees and plant your feet on the floor. Hang from the bar with your body in a straight line, core braced, and shoulders drawn down and back.

Step 2. Pull your body up to the bar so that your back is fully contracted.

1B Single-Arm Banded Reverse Curl

Sets: 5  Reps: 20 (each side)  Rest: 45 sec.

Step 1. Loop a band over your left foot and stand on it with your right foot. Grasp the free end in your right hand, palm facing down, and stand tall.

Step 2. Curl the band, keeping your wrist straight and in line with your arm. Complete your reps, and then repeat on the opposite side.

2 Hollow-Body Bodyweight Chinup

Sets: 4  Reps: AMRAP  Rest: 60 sec.

Step 1. Hang from a chinup bar with hands shoulder-width apart and palms facing you. Draw your ribs down and tuck your pelvis. Brace your core. Your legs should raise slightly in front of you and your abdomen should look somewhat hollowed out.

Step 2. Keeping the hollow-body position, pull your body up until your chin is over the bar.

3A Banded Bent-Arm Shrug

Sets: 3  Reps: As many as possible  Rest: 0 sec.

Step 1. Stand on the center of a band and hold an end in each hand. Bend your hips back slightly and allow the band to pull your arms downward.

Step 2. Keeping a small bend in your elbows, shrug your shoulders as high as you can.

3B Kneeling Banded Biceps Curl w/ 5-Second Iso Hold

Sets: 3  Reps: As many as possible  Rest: 60 sec.

Step 1. Stand or kneel on the center of a band and grasp an end in each hand.

Step 2. Curl the band and hold the top position for 5 seconds. That’s one rep.

4 Single-Arm Biceps Stretch

Sets: 1  Reps: Hold 45 sec. (each side)

Step 1. Grasp a doorframe or other sturdy object with your hand at shoulder level. Step away from the anchor point, turning your body and straightening your arm so that you feel a stretch in your biceps. Hold for 45 seconds, and then switch arms and repeat.

Workout #4 –Strength Emphasis Triceps w/ Bands and Bodyweight

Perform the paired exercises (marked A and B) in alternating fashion. So you’ll do one set of A, rest as prescribed, then one set of B, rest, and repeat until sets are completed for the pair. Exercises that are not marked with a letter are done alone—complete all sets for the move before going on to the next exercise.

For the banded exercises, be sure to choose a band that allows you the number of reps that are prescribed. If your band is too light, choke up on it to provide more tension. If it feels too heavy, try to reduce the tension by sitting or kneeling.

1A Banded Pushup

Sets: 5  Reps: 12  Rest: 15 sec.

Step 1. Wrap a band around your upper back and grasp an end in each hand. Get into pushup position with hands at shoulder width.

Step 2. Perform a pushup, lowering your chest to an inch above the floor.

1B Banded Triceps Pushdown

Sets: 5  Reps: 20  Rest: 45 sec.

Step 1. Attach a band to a sturdy overhead object and grasp the free end in both hands. Angle your body slightly to put tension on your triceps.

Step 2. Keeping your elbows at your sides, extend your elbows to lockout.

2 Constant-Tension Triceps Pushup

Sets: 4  Reps: As many as possible  Rest: 60 sec.

Step 1. Get into pushup position with your hands inside shoulder width.

Step 2. Perform pushups without locking out your elbows. Stop just short of lockout to keep tension on your triceps.

3A Alternating Shoulder Taps

Sets: 3  Reps: As many as possible  Rest: 0 sec.

Step 1. Get into pushup position and alternately raise one arm off the floor to tap the opposite shoulder. When supporting your body on one hand, brace your core and avoid any twisting or bending.

3B Banded Triceps Kickback w/ 5 Second Iso-Hold

Sets: 3  Reps: As many as possible (each arm)  Rest: 60 sec.

Step 1. Anchor the band to the floor with your feet and and grasp the open loop with one hand. Bend your hips back so that your body is nearly parallel to the floor. You should feel a stretch on your triceps when your elbow is bent.

Step 2. Keeping your arm at your side, extend your elbow and squeeze your triceps. Complete your reps, and then repeat on the opposite side.

4 Single-Arm Triceps Overhead Stretch

Sets: 1  Reps: Hold 45 sec. (each arm)

Step 1. Reach your arm overhead and bend the elbow. With your free hand, gently pull on the elbow until you feel a stretch in your triceps. Repeat on the opposite side.

The post 4 Killer Arm Workouts You Can Do At Home appeared first on Onnit Academy.

Our number-one suggestion for anyone training at home: do full-body workouts. First, read up on the advantages of full-body training below, and then see four of our favorite routines for getting in shape, whether you have minimal equipment (such as a single light dumbbell or kettlebell, or a suspension trainer), or your bodyweight only.

Why Should You Work Out Your Whole Body?

Working the whole body in one session offers three big advantages over body-part workouts. For one thing, it ensures that you train the entire body evenly. You can’t neglect any one muscle group, or simply forget to do it for a week (ahem, like leg day). For another, working all your muscles together ramps up the calorie-burning effect, and trains your heart, so that you can maximize fat loss in your workouts and get aerobic benefits as well. A study in BioMed Research International found that subjects who performed just three 30-minute, full-body circuit-training sessions per week lost fat and improved their resting heart rates and blood pressure.

Lastly, hitting every muscle in one workout can lead to faster muscle gains for each body part. One reason why is that the volume you do per muscle group must be kept low. Think about it: if you do five or more sets of squats, how could you also fit in rows, presses, curls, pushdowns, hip bridges, etc., within a reasonable period of time? To avoid a marathon workout session, you simply have to cut back your volume. At first, reducing the workload for a muscle may sound like a liability, but it’s actually an advantage. Because you can’t do a lot of volume for one muscle in a single session, you can be sure it will recover again quickly. That means you can train it again sooner. For example, if you do three sets of squats on Monday, you could do two sets of lunges on Wednesday, and then maybe four sets of stepups on Friday. It may not seem like a lot of leg work in each training session, but that’s nine total sets for the quads alone inside of one week. Provided you can recover from your workouts, the more frequently you train, the faster you can build muscle. A study in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research found that subjects who trained the whole body three days per week gained more arm muscle than another group that trained each muscle group just once (a standard body-part split).

“Full-body training is the most efficient way to stimulate and develop your major muscle groups,” says Chad Waterbury, PT, DPT, an LA-based physical therapist and trainer to celebrities and pro athletes (@drchadwaterbury on Instagram). “Due to the greater metabolic demand, it’s terrific for improving body composition.” To show you how to set up your own total-body training days, Waterbury wrote the four workouts that appear below.

How Often Can You Do A Full-Body Workout?

Full-body workouts can and should be done frequently to take advantage of the fast recovery. Just how frequently you train depends on how hard you want to go and how much work you want to do. If you’re limited to using your body weight alone, you could conceivably train six or even seven days a week, doing one or two all-out sets of basic bodyweight exercises. Pushups, split squats, and chinups aren’t very hard to recover from, so, generally speaking, you can do them often. However, if you have weights, particularly heavy weights, you may need more recovery time before working one or more body parts again.

In general, three to four workouts per week on non-consecutive days is a good schedule. For example, you could perform all four of the workouts shown here in one week if you liked (Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday), or, you can repeat one that suits you best for three to four sessions a week. If you can improve your performance by some measure each time you repeat a workout (such as by adding reps, adding weight, or reducing the rest periods), you can be sure you’re recovering well enough to make progress. If you can’t, you should ramp up your recovery efforts (sleep, nutrition, etc.), or consider training less frequently.

How To Work Out At Home Without Weights

If you don’t have access to weights at home, you’ll have to make the most of your bodyweight, and a suspension trainer makes that easy to do. It allows you to position your body at certain angles so that your arms or legs can take on more or less of your weight, as much as is appropriate, to make the exercises you’re doing effective. For most suspension exercises, the more directly you position yourself under the trainer’s anchor point, the more challenging the exercise will be. On an inverted row, for instance, you can make the movement harder by walking your feet forward so that your body is more parallel to the floor under the anchor point. To make it easier, walk your feet back further so that you’re rowing from a steeper angle.

Look for a trainer that has foot cradles in addition to handles, so that it can support your feet for a variety of leg exercises and pushup movements. The TRX and Jungle Gym XT are both good options. If you can’t get a hold of a suspension trainer, however, hope is not lost. We’ll introduce you to an exercise in the bodyweight workout below that requires absolutely nothing but a floor to work your back muscles hard.

How To Stretch and Warm Up Before A Full-Body Workout

Use the following mobility drills to warm up and mobilize before any full-body routine. They focus on commonly tight and injury-prone areas, such as the thoracic spine, hips, and shoulders. Perform 2–3 sets of 5–10 reps for each move.

Egyptian

Kneeling Arm Thread

Kneeling King Dancer

Shinbox Switch

The Best Full-Body Workouts At Home

Full-Body Workout #1 – Suspension Trainer and Bodyweight

Perform the exercises in circuit fashion, completing one set of each move in order. Do as many reps as possible for each lift. Rest 45 seconds between exercises, and then repeat the circuit for 4–5 total rounds.

For exercises 1A, 1B, and 1C, you’ll use a suspension trainer (Onnit Suspension Rings, a TRX, or any other model are all OK, as long as the trainer has foot cradles). Find an angle that you’re sure will allow you to perform 8­–15 reps, and use it consistently over the next few weeks so that you can gauge your progress. If you can perform more reps at the same angle, you know you’ve gotten stronger.

You may be able to use the same handle height for each exercise, if you set the handles at about knee level.

1A Inverted Row on Suspension Trainer

Step 1. Grasp the handles with your palms facing down, and hang from the suspension trainer at whatever angle is appropriate for you (just make sure there’s tension on the straps). Brace your abs and draw your shoulders back and down—think “proud chest.” Retract your neck, as if making a double chin, so your body forms a straight line from your head to your feet.

Step 2. Row your body up to the handles, tucking your elbows close to your sides, and rotating the handles so that your palms face each other.

1B Pushup To Pike on Suspension Trainer

Step 1. Sit on the floor and place one foot at a time in the foot cradles of the suspension trainer. Get into a pushup position, and tuck your pelvis so that it’s perpendicular to the floor. Your hands should be directly under your shoulders, and your body should form a straight line from your head to your (suspended) feet.

Step 2. Lower your body until you feel a stretch in your chest, tucking your elbows near your sides. From there, press your body back up.

Step 3. Continue pushing your hands into the floor as you bend your hips and drive your butt toward the ceiling, piking your body up as high as you can and squeezing your abs. That’s one rep.

1C Single-Leg Hip Bridge on Suspension Trainer

Step 1. Set one handle of the trainer to about knee height and lie on your back on the floor. Place the foot of your weaker leg in the foot cradle of the trainer, and bend the hip and knee of the other leg 90 degrees. Tuck your pelvis slightly so that it’s perpendicular to the floor, and brace your core.

Step 2. Drive through your heel to raise your hips off the floor. Keep your core tight so that you don’t hyperextend your lower back. Complete your reps, and then repeat on the opposite leg.

1D Skater Squat

Step 1. Set a towel, or stack mats, on the floor behind you, and stand on the foot of your weaker leg. Reach your arms out in front of you to help you balance.

Step 2. Begin bending your hips and the knee of the support leg while reaching back with your free leg. Continue squatting down until your rear knee touches the mats, but don’t rest on it. (Do not let your toes touch down.) Drive up through the middle of your foot and return to standing. Complete your reps, and then repeat on the opposite leg.

If you’re new to skater squats, or don’t have much experience with single-leg training, elevate the towel or pad as needed so that you shorten the range of motion. You can gradually progress to touching the floor with your knee.

Full-Body Workout #2 – 1 Dumbbell or Kettlebell

This workout is ideal if you’re stuck somewhere that offers only one modestly-weighted dumbbell or kettlebell—such as the rusty 20-pounder Uncle Elmer has been using as a doorstop for as long as you can remember. The weight (or lack thereof) doesn’t matter much if you keep the pace brisk and add some instability to the exercise, by working one side at a time and fighting for balance.

Perform the exercises in circuit fashion, completing one set of each move in order. Do as many reps as you can for each exercise. Rest 45 seconds between exercises, and then repeat the circuit for 4–5 total rounds.

1A Single-Leg Bent-Over DB/KB Row

Step 1. Hold a dumbbell or kettlebell in your weaker hand and rest your other hand on a table, chair, or other sturdy surface. Stand on the leg that’s the same side as the one that’s touching the table, and bend your knee slightly. Bend your hips back until your torso is roughly parallel to the floor and extend your free leg behind you. Your head, spine, and pelvis should form a straight line, and your core must be braced.

Step 2. Row the weight to your side, avoiding twisting your body in any direction. Complete your reps, and then repeat on the opposite side.

1B Split-Stance One-Arm Push Press

Step 1. Stand with your legs staggered, and hold the weight in your weaker hand at shoulder level. Tuck your pelvis slightly so that it’s parallel to the floor, and brace your core.

Step 2. Dip both knees quickly and use the rebound effect to help you press the weight overhead with momentum. Avoid bending or twisting in any direction. Complete your reps, and then repeat on the opposite side, switching your legs as well.

1C Offset Reverse Lunge

Step 1. Hold the weight in your weaker hand at shoulder level. Brace your core.

Step 2. Step back with the leg that’s on the same side as the weight, and lower your body until your rear knee nearly touches the floor and your front thigh is parallel to the floor. Avoid bending or twisting. Complete your reps, and then repeat on the opposite side.

1D Single-Leg RDL

Step 1. Stand on your weaker leg and hold the weight at arm’s length on the opposite side. Take a deep breath into your belly, and brace your core.

Step 2. Bend your hips back, allowing your support leg to bend as needed, while keeping your head, spine, and pelvis in a straight line. Continue until you feel a stretch in your hamstring. Avoid bending or twisting. Complete your reps, and then repeat on the opposite side.

1E One-Arm Floor Press

Step 1. Lie on your back on the floor, holding the weight in your weaker hand over your chest. Spread your feet wider than your shoulders and dig them into the floor. Tuck your pelvis slightly so that it’s perpendicular to the floor. Take a deep breath into you belly, and brace your core.

Step 2. Lower the weight until your triceps touch the floor and pause for a moment. Press back up. Complete your reps, and then repeat on the opposite side.

Full-Body Workout #3 – Resistance Bands and Bodyweight

The workout requires the use of two bands—one long, and one short (a mini band, if possible). Bands are easy to acquire, safe to use, and can provide variable amounts of resistance. Need them to feel heavier? Choke up on the band. Lighter? give it more slack. Bands are also great for giving you feedback. On exercises such as the fire hydrant and frog pump, the tension of the band will remind you to keep your glutes engaged constantly. This not only compensates for your not being able to use heavy weight, it will teach you to mentally connect with muscles you’ve neglected. Becoming more aware of a muscle and how it works will help you fire it even harder for better results.

The exercises are grouped into two circuits. Perform the exercises in the first circuit (1A–1D), completing one set of each move in order. Rest 30 seconds between exercises, and then repeat the circuit for 4–5 total rounds. Go on to exercises 2A–2C, and perform them in the same fashion.

1A Banded Face Pull

Reps: 18–20

Step 1. Attach the long band to a sturdy object at about face height. Loop the ends of the band around your wrists, and extend your arms in front of you. Stand back to put tension on the band.

Step 2. Keeping your ribs drawn down and core tight, pull the band toward your face, stopping when your upper back is fully contracted. Do not extend your lower back to help pull the band.

1B Clap Pushup

Reps: As many as possible

Step 1. Get into pushup position and tuck your pelvis so that it’s perpendicular to the floor. Your hands should be directly under your shoulders, and your body should form a straight line from your head to your feet.

Step 2. Quickly lower your body until your chest is about an inch above the floor, tucking your elbows close to your sides as you descend. Use the rebound effect from the fast descent to come back up as explosively as you can. Come up so fast and high that your hands leave the floor and you can clap your hands in mid air.

1C One-Arm Band Curl

Reps: As many as possible

Step 1. Loop the long band over your left foot and run it under your right foot. Now grasp the free end in your right hand and stand tall. (Note that if your left arm is weaker, reverse the setup.)

Step 2. Curl the band up without letting your elbow drift forward. Complete your reps, and then repeat on the opposite side.

1D One-Arm Banded Triceps Pushdown

Reps: As many as possible

Step 1. Attach the long band to a sturdy object that’s overhead and grasp the free end in your weaker hand. Bend your hips back slightly.

Step 2. Keeping your elbow close to your side, extend your arm and flex your triceps. Complete your reps, and then repeat on the opposite side.

2A Standing Fire Hydrant Hold w/ Band

Reps: Hold 30 seconds (each side)

Step 1. Wrap the short band around your legs, just above the knees, and face a wall, standing a foot and a half back. Touch the wall for support.

Step 2. Draw your ribs down and brace your core. Bend the knee on your weaker leg, and bend your hips back until your torso is about 60 degrees. Raise your free leg out to the side, drive your heel backward to extend your hip fully, and rotate your knee outward. Avoid any rotation at the pelvis, and let the movement come purely from your hip. Hold the position 30 seconds, and then repeat on the opposite side.

2B Frog Pump w/ Band

Reps: As many as possible

Step 1. Lie on your back on the floor and wrap a band around your legs, just above the knees. Bend your knees 90 degrees and bring the soles of your feet together. Drive the backs of your arms into the floor at about 45 degrees to your torso. Tuck your pelvis slightly so that it’s perpendicular to the floor, and brace your core.

Step 2. Drive your knees outward as you push through the outer edges of your feet to raise your hips off the floor. Rise until your glutes are fully contracted.

2C Jump Squat w/ Band

Reps: 10

Step 1. Wrap a band around your legs just above the knees. Stand with feet slightly wider than shoulder width.

Step 2. Quickly bend your hips and knees, throwing your arms back behind you, and descend to about half your normal squat depth. Drive your knees outward against the band the whole time—your knees must be in line with your big toes. Use the rebound effect to jump upward with momentum. Jump as high as you can, and land softly. Begin the next jump immediately.

Full-Body Workout #4 – Bodyweight Only

Isometric holds mean holding the hardest position in an exercise’s range of motion. When you do this, you put the muscle under the greatest amount of tension possible, and that translates to growth. When you follow that with full-range reps, you’ll be amazed at how quickly you can exhaust your muscles with so little exercise volume—and no external load!

Perform the exercises in circuit fashion, completing one set of each move in order. Rest 45 seconds between exercises, and then repeat the circuit for 4–5 total rounds.

1A Pushup w/ Isometric Hold

Step 1. Get into pushup position and tuck your pelvis so that it’s perpendicular to the floor. Your hands should be directly under your shoulders, and your body should form a straight line from your head to your feet.

Step 2. Lower your body until your chest is about an inch above the floor, tucking your elbows close to your sides as you descend.

Step 3. Squeeze your pecs while actively pulling your arms toward each other—but do not move them. Simply tense your pecs and hold the contraction isometrically for as long as possible.

Step 4. When you can’t hold the position any longer, rest 15 seconds, and then perform as many full-range pushup reps as possible.

1B Three-Position Isometric Row

Step 1. Lie on your back on the floor with knees bent and feet flat on the floor. Extend your arms out 90 degrees to your sides, and then bend your elbows 90 degrees.

Step 2. Drive your elbows into the floor as hard as possible for 10 seconds, as if rowing your bodyweight. Rest 5 seconds, and move your arms toward your body to 45 degrees. Drive your elbows down again for 10 seconds, rest 5, and reposition your arms once more next to your sides. Drive down for 10 seconds, and rest.

1C Isometric Hip Bridge/Leg Curl

Step 1. Lie on your back on the floor with your knees bent 90 degrees and feet on the floor, but allow only your heels to touch down. Tuck your pelvis under slightly, and brace your core.

Step 2. Drive through your heels to raise your hips off the floor, and then dig your heels into the floor as if trying to perform a leg curl. Perform the isometric for 10 seconds.

1D Split Squat w/ Isometric Hold

Step 1. Stand with feet staggered and your weaker leg in front.

Step 2. Lower your body until your front thigh is parallel to the floor and your rear knee is just above the floor. Hold the position while tensing your front leg hard as long as you can. Rest 15 seconds.

Step 3. Now perform normal split squat reps—standing up tall and lowering into the lunge position. Do as many reps as possible.

Step 4. Rest 30 seconds, and then switch sides and repeat the isometric hold, followed by the reps.

The post 4 Full-Body At-Home Workouts for Getting & Staying Fit appeared first on Onnit Academy.

The truth is, there are no one-word answers here. Both the barbell and dumbbell are amazing implements that can bring value to your training, and you should use both, if possible. But to provide the ultimate guidance, we’ve enlisted the help of some reputable fitness experts to break down when, why, and how to use barbells and dumbbells to reach your goals.

“The key with training is to not get married to only one method or one training tool,” says Zach Even-Esh, founder of the Underground Strength Gym in Manasquan and Scotch Plains, NJ (zacheven-esh.com). “It would be closed-minded to do so, and in turn would hinder your results. My preference is to mix barbell and dumbbell work, and find the right time and place for each.”

The History of Barbells and Dumbbells

Although historical records are limited, dumbbells seem to have first appeared in a rudimentary form in ancient Greece, as early 700 BC. Halteres, as they were called then, were small stone implements used by long jumpers. Athletes would swing the weights backward, and then forward before takeoff, to create greater momentum and thrust for the jump.

Now fast-forward more than two thousand years. In the 1700s, church bells began being used for exercise. To silence them, the clappers were removed, and so the name “dumb” bell was born. By the early 1800s, the dumbbell better resembled the form we know now (handle in the middle, equal weight on both ends), and was being used in European schools and exercise classes, as well as in the military. (Interestingly, “Indian clubs,” the forerunner to steel clubs, were just as popular, if not more, at the time in Europe and Asia.) By the end of the 19th century, gyms in both Europe and America were equipped with dumbbells.

Barbells actually became popular after dumbbells did, reportedly in the mid-1800s. But they caught on quickly. The vintage “globe” barbell came first (the weights on the ends looked like planets), followed by the plate-loaded barbell. In 1896, weightlifting officially became an Olympic sport, with both dumbbells and barbells used in competition. Then, in 1928, a German named Kasper Berg introduced the revolving-sleeve barbell, which was more or less the modern Olympic bar we know today.

Through the rest of the 20^th century, dumbbells and barbells continued to evolve as technology and sport science advanced, strength and physique competitions became more and more popular, and the public’s interest in health and fitness exploded. Today, dumbbells and barbells are as popular, and effective, as ever, and come in various forms to accommodate individuals of all levels.

The Different Types of Dumbbells

There are two basic types of dumbbells: fixed-weight dumbbells and adjustable dumbbells.

Fixed-weight dumbbells are the kind you see in commercial gyms, usually ranging (in pairs) from five-pound weights up to 100+ pounds, and typically in five-pound increments. The weights are fixed to the bar, and cannot be adjusted.

Adjustable dumbbells allow you to change load quickly, by sliding weight plates on and off the handle and clamping it, or by pulling a pin or turning a dial that locks and releases the plates. They, too, typically range from five to 100+ pounds, in increments of five pounds. Adjustable dumbbells tend to be a little more rickety than the fixed-weight kind (you better make sure the weight is secured, or it can fall off the handle during use), and can be a bit awkward to use (heavy weight often means lots of plates that make for a long dumbbell that can be hard to move around your body), but they’re cost-effective, space-efficient, and a solid choice for a home gym. (A full set of fixed-weight dumbbells is expensive and takes up a lot of room.)

The Different Types of Barbells

Like dumbbells, barbells can be fixed-weight or load-adjustable, though the latter is the more common type.

The standard plate-loaded Olympic barbell, the kind you see at any serious gym, weighs 45 pounds on its own and is approximately seven feet long. The middle part of the bar has knurling (rough grooves) to optimize traction, while the outer rotating “sleeves” (where you load the weight) are smooth and thicker, to fit standard Olympic weight plates.

Similar style plate-loaded bars also come in smaller sizes (25 pounds, and shorter), but these are less common than standard Olympic bars.

Fixed-weight barbells are typically found at large commercial gyms, and are stored on dedicated racks. They may range from 20–100+ pounds, and often in 10-pound increments. These barbells are considerably shorter than Olympic bars, and are designed for convenience on lighter-load exercises, as well as for beginners.

All of the barbells described above are straight bars. Other types of barbells offer different designs, including curves in them that help the lifter perform an exercise more efficiently or safely. The EZ-bar (typically used for arm exercises) and trap bar (for deadlifts) are two examples.

Differences Between Barbell and Dumbbell Exercises

Most of the time, when you use a barbell, you’ll hold it with both hands. As we’ll discuss in the next section, this allows you to stabilize the weight you’re lifting to a great degree, and that makes it easier to lift heavy, providing maximum overload to your muscles. Training with a barbell is most applicable to weightlifting sports (Olympic weightlifting, powerlifting, CrossFit, for example), where the barbell is used in competition. In contrast, when you use dumbbells, each hand moves independently. You have the option of lifting either one or two dumbbells at a time, but because your hands aren’t fixed to one bar, the range of motion on any lift is going to be greater, and so is the challenge in stabilizing it.

When doing one-arm dumbbell exercises (e.g., one-arm dumbbell rows, one-arm dumbbell concentration curls, etc.), where the non-working side is not holding a dumbbell, you’re training “unilaterally” (one side at a time). Unilateral training is great for targeting a weak side, and increasing the range of motion for a muscle group. It also works your body in a way that’s more in line with how you move it in real life. Often times we need to use one side of our body while stabilizing the other side (running, throwing, punching, etc.), so dumbbell exercises are highly functional.

Benefits of Using a Barbell

Having your hands locked into a fixed position via a barbell offers one major benefit that you really can’t duplicate to the same degree with any other workout tool: strength. Specifically, high-end maximal strength—the ability to produce as much force as possible.

Barbell lifts, where both legs/arms are working in unison (such as in a back squat, bench press, and deadlift), allow for maximal loading. This is why world-record lifts are recorded with barbell exercises (no one cares how much you can DUMBBELL bench press). However, such gains in overall strength require sacrifice in other areas. A lifter with a 300-pound one-rep max (1RM) on bench press probably won’t be able to press a pair of 150-pound dumbbells, because stabilizing the two weights is too difficult.

“A more stable load means you can add more weight and control it a bit more with larger muscles,” says John Rusin, PT, DPT, CSCS, owner of the online fitness platform John Rusin Fitness Systems (DrJohnRusin.com). In other words, when you use a barbell, you won’t be calling upon smaller (and weaker) stabilizing muscles to the extent you do with dumbbells. With barbell exercises, the strongest, most powerful muscles are taking the brunt of the load. (More on stabilizing muscles in Do Barbells and Dumbbells Use Different Muscles? below.)

It’s pretty clear, then, that the barbell is a critical tool for anyone looking to truly maximize muscular strength—including competitive lifters, athletes in strength-speed sports like football, basketball, and track and field, and any gym enthusiast with lofty 1-rep max (1RM) goals. Because the barbell accommodates heavy loading, and big weights recruit a greater number of muscle fibers, one can also argue that barbell training is crucial for maximizing gains in muscle size. You’d be hard-pressed to find a bodybuilder or other physique athlete who has never made at least some use of it.

Benefits of Using Dumbbells

Whether you’re using one or two at a time, dumbbells allow for both greater range of motion (ROM) and more freedom of movement than an equivalent barbell exercise. Let’s use the barbell and dumbbell variations of the bench press to illustrate these points.

With a barbell, your ROM is limited to the point at which the bar is touching your chest at the bottom of the lift. With dumbbells, you’re able to bring your hands lower at the bottom simply because there’s no bar stopping you at chest level. The obvious benefit of greater ROM is increased joint mobility. “Many individuals and athletes have limited mobility in joints like the shoulders, elbows, and wrists, so dumbbells can offer a more movement-friendly motion and help restore that mobility,” says Even-Esh.

As for freedom of movement, your hands are in a fixed position when using a barbell; you’re not able to rotate your wrists or change the orientation of your hands in any way during a set. Dumbbells, however, allow you to freely move your hands independently and rotate your wrists at any point during the movement. This is a key benefit if you have injuries that act up when you lift with a barbell. You may find that, because dumbbells allow your arms and legs to find their own best paths, you don’t experience the same joint pain you get from barbell lifts. So injury-prevention, rehabilitation, and all-around more joint-friendly strength training are all more possible with dumbbell work than with barbell.

ROM and freedom of movement can also be huge for helping you build more muscle, as compared to barbell exercises.

“You can look at this as a sliding scale,” says Rusin. “Bodyweight training is the highest form of rotational requisite, where we can truly explore space. And then on the opposite side of the spectrum is machine training, where you literally lock yourself into position, have little to no freedom of movement, and you move a weight from point A to point B on a strict range of motion through a specific pattern. A barbell is closer on the scale to a machine, and dumbbell movements are closer to bodyweight exercises. Both pieces of equipment are very advantageous, but if the goal is to build muscle, especially working in that 8–12-rep hypertrophy range, dumbbell exercises are preferable.”

Another key benefit of using dumbbells is muscular balance from side to side (left to right). When doing a barbell exercise, your dominant arm can compensate for the weaker arm. This may help you get the weight up, but it will only exacerbate any imbalances you have, and could eventually lead to injury. With dumbbells, each side carries its own weight, so the stronger arm can’t make up for the weaker one. This comes into play even when doing bilateral dumbbell exercises (both arms lifting the weights at that same time), though unilateral exercises can be used to further isolate each side, particularly the weaker one.

Dumbbell training is a great way to identify a lagging side, and immediately begin to correct it. “Using dumbbells develops unilateral strength, which can help bring up your weaker side [usually your non-dominant side],” says Bill Shiffler, owner of CrossFit Renaissance in Philadelphia, and a competitive amateur bodybuilder (crossfitrenaissance.com). “This will be beneficial overall, and also translate into you being able to move more weight on a similar movement when you load up a barbell. For example, dumbbell bench presses can make your barbell bench press stronger.”

Dumbbells also accommodate countless isolation (single-joint) movements, like chest flyes, lateral raises for the delts, and triceps kickbacks. These moves can’t be done with a barbell, so if maximum muscle growth is your goal, you can’t train exclusively with a bar. These exercises often get bashed for not being “functional,” but even non physique-focused lifters should make some use of them. They’re highly effective for targeting specific muscles, and can play a role in overall performance and injury-resistance.

“There’s huge value and ROI to performing isolation movements, regardless of what your goals are,” says Shiffler. “Dumbbells can hit muscles in a way you simply can’t with barbells.”

Are Dumbbells Safer Than Barbells?

Dumbbells don’t allow you to use the same kind of crushing weight that barbells do, and they’re (arguably) less awkward to use. They also mostly lend themselves to less risky exercises. Both Even-Esh and Shiffler, for example, generally consider the one-arm dumbbell snatch a safer variation than the more complex Olympic barbell snatch. But that doesn’t mean dumbbell exercises are injury-proof. With improper form, you can hurt yourself just as easily on a dumbbell press, curl, or triceps extension as you can with the barbell version. “Thinking that dumbbells are an inherently safer implement to use in your program can be a mistake,” says Shiffler.

For instance, it’s not uncommon to pull or tear a pec by pushing the range of motion on dumbbell chest presses or flyes too far. And simply setting up for those exercises—rocking back onto the bench to get into position, or rocking back to a seated position at the end of a set—can be tricky.

With that said, the barbell needs to be treated with more respect, generally speaking. “Any athlete and individual must earn the right to train with a barbell,” says Even-Esh. “Exercises like the squat, deadlift, military press, bench press, snatch, and clean require a solid baseline of strength and skill in moving properly. Before an individual can perform basic barbell lifts, I want to see a foundation of strength built through calisthenics, resistance-band work, sled work, dumbbells, and kettlebells.”

The barbell is simply a more unforgiving implement. With no room to adjust your hand/arm position during a set, the path of your range of motion is very limited. If your shoulders, knees, or lower back aren’t agreeable to it, you can get hurt. This is why there are far more back injuries from back squats and deadlifts than there are from the dumbbell versions of those lifts.

“I suggest staying clear of a barbell if you’re someone who already has a great deal of injuries, or if you have noticeable muscle imbalances, as a barbell can tend to make the imbalances more prominent,” says Jim Ryno, owner of Iron House, a home-gym design and remodeling company in Alpine, New Jersey (Iron-House.co). “I tend to lean toward barbell use for clients that are primarily looking for serious strength gains and want to engage in performing 1RM attempts.”

Do Barbells and Dumbbells Use Different Muscles?

In any exercise you do, you’ll hit the same target muscles whether you’re using a barbell or dumbbells. For example, both a barbell back squat and a dumbbell goblet squat are primarily hitting the quads, with some activation of the glutes and hamstrings as well. A barbell curl and a dumbbell curl both work the biceps. The degree of activation will vary, however, according to how your body moves, and, as already explained, you do move differently using dumbbells versus a barbell.

For instance, in the dumbbell goblet squat example, form dictates that your torso will be more upright than it would be doing a back squat. For many people, that involves the quad muscles to a greater degree, and de-emphasizes the glutes and hamstrings. When you curl dumbbells, you have the option to supinate (twist) your wrists outward as you bring the weight up, which you can’t do curling a straight bar. That can give you greater activation of the biceps and forearm muscles.

Apart from different movement paths and ranges of motion, dumbbell exercises differ from barbell moves in one major way: they utilize more “stabilizer” muscles than barbell variations, due to the greater ROM and freedom of movement involved. When coaches and trainers talk about stabilizers, they’re usually referring to relatively small muscles—the rear delts, rotator cuff, serratus anterior, and levator scapula in the upper body, or gluteus minimis and piriformis in the hip region.

Generally speaking, the less you have to rely on stabilizers for an exercise, the more weight you’ll be able to move, since stabilizers are smaller and weaker than prime movers like the pecs, lats, quads, and glutes. As the saying goes, you’re only as strong as your weakest link; thus, your stabilizers are the limiting factor when doing a given movement with dumbbells versus a barbell.

It can be said, then, that dumbbell exercises activate more muscles (big ones and small ones combined), while barbell exercises get the most out of the larger muscles. Yet this doesn’t mean the latter is best for gaining size.  

“I’m really not a huge believer that the barbell deadlift, squat, and bench press are really best to build muscle, just because of the way they fit on the body,” says Rusin. “These exercises lock you into position, giving you less natural rotation through space [freedom of movement], which is where we tend to get better peak targeting of muscles and a stronger mind-muscle connection. When we lock that rotation, we tend to shift the focus naturally to a strength emphasis pattern, where the goal becomes more global in terms of moving a load from point A to point B.”

As implied, Rusin favors dumbbells over barbells for building muscle, with his rationale focused on movement quality.

“I tend to not program barbell moves for anything over around 6 repetitions,” he says. “The barbell has the most loading capacity, but the biggest limiting factor for getting into extended rep ranges is a lack of movement quality. People tend to break down at the midsection on big barbell lifts, and the core is the first thing to fatigue and create a weakness, typically after you get past around 6 reps. You can build muscle in any rep scheme, but working in that 8–12 rep range is important because, one, you have enough weight to create mechanical tension, and two, the sets are long enough to keep the muscles under tension for the time it takes to create great metabolic stress in the tissue—another factor for growth. That’s what really creates the so-called perfect stimulus for hypertrophy [muscle gain].”

In other words, to create the perfect storm for muscle gain, do some barbell work for low reps, and dumbbell work for higher reps.

Our Favorite Barbell Exercises

Juan Leija, General Manager of Onnit Academy, and a coach at Onnit Gym in Austin, TX, recommends the following barbell exercises to build overall strength and stability. Practice them for sets of 6 reps or fewer to start, using light weight until you’ve mastered form. Follow Leija on Instagram, @juannit_247.

Deadlift

Many coaches and lifters consider the deadlift to be the best exercise you can do with a barbell, and the best test of total-body strength. It’s particularly good for building strength in the hips, lower-back, and grip.

Step 1. Stand behind the bar with feet between hip and shoulder-width. Draw your shoulder blades together and downward—think, “proud chest.” Now bend your hips back, as if trying to touch your butt to the wall behind you. Your head, spine, and pelvis should form a straight line.

Step 2. Grasp the bar overhand, and take a deep breath into your belly. Make sure your shoulders are pulled back and down again, and brace your core. Begin to push your heels into the floor to lift the bar off the floor. Come up until your hips are locked out and you’re standing tall.

Floor Bridge Press

Pressing from a bridged position involves the lower-body in the lift, making for a more athletic bench press exercise. Glutes are often a weaker muscle group, because most people spend so much time sitting, and don’t train the glutes directly. This exercise helps to bring them up while training upper-body power and strength.

Step 1. Set the bar on a power rack, low to the floor. Lie on your back on the floor and bring your feet in close to your butt. Tuck your pelvis so that it’s in line with your spine, and brace your core. Drive through your heels to lift your butt off the floor (keep your core braced so you don’t hyperextend your lower back).

Step 2. Grasp the bar with hands just outside shoulder width. Pull the bar out of the rack and hold it above your chest. Take a deep breath into your belly, and lower the bar until your triceps touch the floor. Pause a moment, and press the weight back up. Maintain your bridge position the entire time.

Offset Overhead Press

Learning to stabilize an uneven load helps prepare your body for movements in sports and in life, which are often asymmetrical. Keeping the bar straight on an overhead press that’s unevenly loaded will develop stability in the shoulders. Complete your reps on one side, and then switch sides and repeat. (Rest between sides if you feel you need to.)

Step 1. Load only one side of the bar. Beginners (and those new to the movement) should start with only 10–25 pounds. Grasp the bar with hands at shoulder width, and take it out of a power rack, or, clean it up from the floor while keeping your lower back flat. The bar should be just below your chin, and held perfectly straight. Stand with feet shoulder-width apart, and tuck your pelvis under so it’s level with the floor. Take a deep breath into your belly, and brace your core.

Step 2. Press the bar overhead while keeping it as level as possible. Note that you’ll need to lift it slowly to maintain control. Lower the bar back to chin level.

Pendlay Row

Named for the late Olympic weightlifting coach Glenn Pendlay, this rowing variation targets the upper back, lats, and lower back with a strict movement. No bouncing the weight up or using momentum here.

Step 1. Stand behind the bar with feet between hip and shoulder-width. Keeping your head, spine, and hips in a straight line, bend your hips back as if you were trying to touch your butt to the wall behind you (allow your knees to bend as needed). Grasp the bar outside shoulder width and take a deep breath into your belly. Draw your shoulder blades down and together (think, “proud chest”), and extend your spine so it’s long and straight.

Step 2. Explosively row the bar from the floor to your upper abs. Lower it back down and let it come to a dead stop on the floor before you begin the next rep.

Suitcase Deadlift

Similar to the offset overhead press, the suitcase deadlift challenges your body with asymmetrical loading in a movement you’re probably not used to doing unilaterally. It’s also killer for the core and grip.

Step 1. Stand to the side of the bar, as if it were a suitcase you were about to pick up. Place your feet between hip and shoulder-width, and bend your hips back to reach down and grasp the bar in the middle. Square your shoulders and hips with the floor, and draw your shoulders back and down as much as you can. Your head, spine, and pelvis should form a long, straight line. Take a deep breath into your belly and brace your core.

Step 2. Drive through your heels to stand up, raising the weight off the floor and to your side. Try to keep the bar as level as possible as you lift it—squeeze it tightly—and avoid bending or twisting your torso to either side. Complete your reps on that side, and then switch sides and repeat.

Landmine Row To Press

Once you’ve gotten familiar with basic lifts like the deadlift, row, and press, combining them into one movement can help you better mimic the demands of life outside the gym. The landmine row to press has you lifting the bar off the floor and overhead explosively, building total-body strength and power—but in a more user-friendly movement that’s also easier on the joints, thanks to the arc of motion provided by the landmine.

Step 1. Load a barbell into a landmine unit, or use the corner of a room. Stand to one side of the bar with feet shoulder-width apart. Draw your shoulder blades together and downward—think, “proud chest.” Bend your hips back, as if trying to touch your butt to the wall behind you. Your head, spine, and pelvis should form a straight line. Grasp the end of the barbell’s sleeve with one arm.

Step 2. Explosively deadlift the bar up while rowing it and twisting away from it. As your free hand comes toward the bar, use it to take the bar from the rowing hand, and allow the momentum to help you follow through and press the bar overhead along the arc that the landmine provides. Start extra light so that you can master the movement in one fluid motion. Complete your reps on one side, and then repeat on the other side.

Our Favorite Dumbbell Exercises

We like the dumbbell exercises below because they offer distinct advantages over their barbell counterparts, including safety, muscle balance, and freedom of movement. All of these exercises can be performed with kettlebells as well, but doing so can be awkward in some cases (due to the kettlebell’s offset handle and ball structure). Kettlebells also provide fewer loading options, as they don’t come in the same weight increments that dumbbells do. The snatch lends itself well to a kettlebell, but you may do better with dumbbells on the other moves until you’ve mastered them.

Dumbbell Snatch

The barbell snatch is possibly the most complex and intricate barbell exercise there is, but its dumbbell counterpart is relatively easy to learn, and offers similar benefits in terms of power. It’s also great for your core.

Step 1. Hold a dumbbell with one hand and stand with feet slightly wider than shoulder-distance apart. Draw your shoulders back and downward (think: “proud chest”). Press your hips back while keeping a long spine—your head, spine, and pelvis should maintain alignment as you hinge at the hips. Bend your knees as needed. Your chest and shoulders should be level with the floor and remain facing forward. Breathe into your belly, and engage your core. Allow your free arm to hang at your side.

Step 2. Powerfully extend your knees, hips, and ankles, drawing the dumbbell straight up and close to your body. The movement should be powered by your lower body, not your shoulders. Your feet may or may not rise off the floor for a moment.

Step 3. Shrug the shoulder that’s holding the weight, driving your elbow up high and backward. The dumbbell should travel in a straight line up in front of you. Think about pulling your whole body under the weight as it rises.

Step 4. When it reaches its highest point (above shoulder level), turn your elbow under the dumbbell. Catch the weight overhead with arm extended as it continues upward.

Single-Arm Dumbbell Row

“This is probably my favorite dumbbell move,” says Rusin. “It targets the upper back and core. You can get your hips involved if you add rotation. It’s killer in terms of metabolic capacity, and will ramp up your heart rate. You can go heavy with low reps, or go lighter with high reps. There are so many different ways you can do it.” The basic one-arm row, in which you get in a stable stance and pull to your hip, is described below.

Step 1. Hold a dumbbell in one hand and stagger your legs. Bend your hips back so that you can rest your free arm on your front knee for support. Your body should form a straight line from your head to your heel.

Step 2. Row the weight to your hip, drawing your shoulder blade down and back. Your upper arm should end up in line with your torso. Complete your reps, and repeat on the opposite side.

Arnold Press

It’s not clear if this movement got its name from Arnold Schwarzenegger, but there’s ample evidence that the Governator—and lots of other famous bodybuilders—used them successfully. Instead of pressing the weight straight overhead, you rotate your wrists and elbows outward. This limits the weight you can use, but it activates more of the lateral head of the deltoid, and can be a good strategy for working the shoulders while lessening the risk of injury. If your shoulders are banged up from years of sports or other activity, performing lighter Arnold presses may be the best way to work them in an overhead pressing motion.

Step 1. Stand with feet shoulder-width apart, and hold the dumbbells at shoulder level with palms facing you.

Step 2. Press the weights overhead, and rotate your wrists outward as you lift, so that your palms face forward at the top of the movement.

Dumbbell Bench Press 

No surprise here. You’ve probably done these already, along with everyone else who’s ever gone to a gym wanting to get a pump. But there’s no wonder as to why (nor is there any reason to stop doing them). The dumbbell bench press trains the pecs through a full range of motion, and can be effective for size and strength in any rep range. If chasing a big barbell bench press number has left you with sore shoulders, switching to dumbbells can provide some relief while offering even more stimulus to your pec muscles.

Step 1. Hold a dumbbell in each hand and lie back on a bench. Position the weights at shoulder level.

Step 2. Press the weights over your chest, squeezing your pecs as you come up. Lower your arms with elbows pointing 45 degrees from your sides.

Dumbbell Romanian Deadlift

Strong glutes, hamstrings, and spinal erector muscles are crucial for being able to run fast, jump high, and lift a lot of weight. Any version of the RDL will accomplish that, but the dumbbell variant gives you a bit more range of motion, and the option to alter your technique for the sake of emphasizing one muscle over another. For instance, Rusin says you can hold the weights at the sides of your legs instead of in front to get more glute involvement.

Step 1. Hold a dumbbell in each hand and stand with feet hip-width apart. Twist your feet into the floor to generate tension in your hips.

Step 2. Tilt your tailbone back and bend your hips back as far as you can. Allow your knees to bend as needed while you lower the weights until you feel a stretch in your hamstrings. Keep your spine long and straight throughout. Squeeze your glutes as you come back up to lock out your hips.

The post Barbells vs Dumbbells: What’s Better for your Workout? appeared first on Onnit Academy.

What Is The Straight-Arm Pulldown?

The straight-arm pulldown exercise is a variation of the classic lat-pulldown. In this case, you perform the movement standing and keep your elbows locked out the entire time. The straight-arm pulldown trains the latissimus dorsi through a long range of motion, and is helpful for people who have trouble feeling their backs work on conventional pulldown exercises. As a result, it’s a great movement for focusing on lat development.

How To Do The Straight-Arm Pulldown

Step 1: Attach a rope handle to the high pulley of a cable station. Grasp an end in each hand and face the cable station.

Step 2: Draw your shoulder blades back together and down, as if you were trying to stuff them into your back pockets. Think: “proud chest.”

Step 3: Draw your ribs down, tuck your tailbone under, and brace your core muscles. Your torso should feel like one tight, solid column. Bend your hips back until your torso is at a 30–45-degree angle.

Step 4: Step back from the station a bit so that you feel tension on the cable and your arms are fully extended overhead. You should feel a stretch on your lats (the muscles along the sides of your back). Set your feet at shoulder width.

Step 5: Slowly drive your arms down to your sides in an arcing motion with elbows locked out, so your hands end up in line with your hips, or just behind them.

Step 6: Reverse the motion slowly to extend your arms again.

The straight-arm pulldown may also be done with a lat-bar or straight-bar attachment, but the rope allows for better shoulder positioning and a slightly greater range of motion. As a result, you’ll get greater muscle activation. If possible, use two rope attachments on the same cable so that you can use a wider grip and get an even greater contraction in the end position. Another option is to use a band, which will increase tension in the end range of motion, helping you get a greater contraction at the bottom of the movement. You can also do this exercise as a single arm lat pulldown to further work the muscles involved.

In any case, it’s important to keep the elbows extended, as any bending will cause the triceps to get involved and reduce the involvement of the lats.

Muscles Worked in the Straight-Arm Pulldown

• Lats
• Upper back
• Rear deltoid
• Triceps
• Chest
• Core

Straight-Arm Pulldown Benefits

• Enhanced mind-muscle connection. The straight-arm pulldown is ideal for lifters who can’t feel their lats working on traditional pulldown exercises. Keeping the arms straight prevents the mid-back and biceps from taking over the movement, so you can focus on the lat muscles you’re trying to work more directly.
• Greater range of motion than standard pulldowns.
• Improved stability on deadlifts. The straight-arm pulldown strengthens the lats in the same way that they’re used when deadlifting—pulling the bar tight to your body (“bending” it around the shins at the bottom of the lift/around the hips at the top). The ability to keep the bar in contact with your body throughout a deadlift creates a stronger, more stable movement and reduces the risk of injury.

When to Use The Straight-Arm Pulldown

• Perform the straight-arm pulldown before deadlifts or other back exercises to prepare your lats for the effort and enhance their muscle recruitment. Because it provides an intense lat stretch at the top (starting) position, the straight-arm pulldown is also useful at the beginning of a workout to improve back and shoulder mobility.
• Try it at the end of a workout for 2–3 sets of 10–15 reps. This will pump an enormous amount of blood into the area, which by itself may be a mechanism for muscle growth.
• Use it in place of rows or pulldowns if you have a lower-back injury. The movement is isolated to flexion and extension of the shoulders, so it prevents unwanted motion or stress in the lower back.

How To Stretch Before The Straight-Arm Pulldown

While the straight-arm pulldown can stretch your lats and increase mobility on its own, you should warm up your upper body before you perform it. The following video, courtesy of Onnit-certified Durability Coach, Cristian Plascencia, is a sample routine you can use before an upper-body or back workout. (Follow Cristian on Instagram, @cristiangplascencia).

Regression

If you feel like back muscles other than your lats are taking over the straight-arm pulldown, reduce the load you’re using, or try them with a band instead of a cable. You can also perform the movement while standing up more vertically, which will place less of a stretch on your lats but will make the movement easier to control.

Progression

To make the straight-arm pulldown harder, use a longer rope or two rope handles at once to increase your range of motion.

What Alternatives Are There To The Straight-Arm Pulldown?

If you don’t have a cable station or band at your disposal, you can use the following substitutes to get a similar training effect to the straight-arm pulldown.

Dumbbell or kettlebell pullover. Lying on a bench and pulling the weight from behind your head to over your chest stretches the lats, but will also involve the chest and triceps to a degree, which isn’t ideal if your goal is ultimate lat development.

Gironda Pulldown. This pulldown/row combination works the back hard, but doesn’t provide the same lat isolation that the straight-arm pulldown does.

The post Master This Move: The Straight-Arm Pulldown Exercise appeared first on Onnit Academy.

That’s what this definitive guide is all about. Getting big, strong, lean and built like a badass.

It’s the summation of everything I have learned over the course of 25-plus years in the Iron Game.

The techniques I’m about to reveal helped me overcome horrible genetics and gain 47 pounds of muscle over the years. They’ve also helped thousands of my in-person and online clients achieve similar results.

If you work hard and smart, they’ll do the same for you.

But first the bad news…

If you’re a genetically average (or worse), “skinny-fat” dude who really struggles to gain strength, build muscle, and lose fat, I gotta tell you something…

You’ve been lied to.

You’ve been fed a bunch of crap about how to transform your body that’ll never work for  guys like us.

I’m talking about all the typical nonsense you hear and read all the time like:

● You should do nothing else but the big power and Olympic lifts.
● You should always go heavy, no matter what.
● Isolation exercises are useless.
● You should always do full body workouts.
● Circuit training is the fastest way to get ripped.
● Crunches and cardio give you a six pack.
● You have to eat 6-7 meals a day.
● You should eat 2 grams of protein per pound of your body weight.
● Carbs are the devil.
● You have to buy this supplement or take that drug to build muscle.

All total and utter bullshit.

The only thing you’ll get from following that advice is a laundry list of nagging injuries and an overdraft of your checking account. I should know. Been there and done that.

Because I don’t want you to have to waste all the years and money that I did (not to mention the surgeon’s bills), I came up with a method of training and eating specifically for skinny-fat, injury-prone hard-gainers: guys who historically can’t gain muscle doing the workouts they find in magazines or on blogs. It’s also perfect for all guys over age 35 who need to be smarter with their training as they age.

I call it the Renegade Method, and I’m going to lay out the rules for it below.

The Renegade Method has been tested on thousands of trainees, both at my private gym and online. It’s been tweaked, retooled, upgraded and perfected.

And why should you trust me?

I’m a genetic misfit when it comes to building muscle. I was frail and weak for the first 20 years of my life. I tried every training system, diet, and supplement imaginable over the last three decades. I found what worked, kept it, and got rid of what didn’t.

The result is an all encompassing training and lifestyle plan that is guaranteed to build size and strength without the typical injuries, burnout, and plateaus that most programs result in.

If you’ve followed my blogs, podcasts, and social media long enough, you’ve seen the incredible transformations my clients have made and the features in Men’s Health, Men’s Fitness, Muscle and Fitness, ESPN, and CBS, so you know this stuff works.

The Renegade Method is designed specifically for the average, busy guy and hard-gainer who wants to get built like a badass but…

● Don’t have a lot of time.
● Isn’t on steroids and performance-enhancement drugs.
● Doesn’t have great genetics for building muscle and strength.
● Is sick of getting injured from workouts and feeling like crap all the time.

Now, I’m not gonna make you an outrageous promise, like gains of 84 pounds of muscle in the next month or something. You’ve still gotta be patient and put in time. But you’ll see some results within a few weeks on this plan, and big results in a few more months.

If you follow the program and put in the work, you’ll get the results. Don’t bail after a few days because your arms aren’t an inch bigger. People who cop out like that are sheep. They can’t get anywhere in life.

If you follow the program and put in the work you’ll get results. But the reality is most people won’t even finish any training program that they start. They’re too mentally weak. They’ll keep looking for shortcuts and an easier way. Those people are sheep. They can’t get anywhere in life.

Don’t be a sheep. Be a fucking lion.

Now, without further adieu, here are the rules of my Renegade Method. The ones you must follow to get jacked, strong, and powerful—as fast as your body will allow.

Rule #1: To Build Muscle, You Have to Get Strong

You can’t expect to transform your physique by doing the same workouts over and over. You have to force adaptation to occur. The easiest way to do that is by adding weight to the bar. Get stronger, primarily in the range of 5–10 reps, and you’ll get bigger.

Training heavy will always deliver better results than training light. That’s just common sense. The more weight you use, the more muscle fiber you can activate.

How do you know you’re getting stronger? By regularly setting PRs (personal records).

Pick a few key exercises that together train the whole body. Presses, chinups, rows, and squat and deadlift variations are the best choices (more on these in Rules #2 and #3). Write down how much weight you can currently do for 5–10 reps on each of them, and, over the next few months, work your way up to where you can either add 10–20 pounds to each of those lifts or do 3–5 more reps with the same weight. That’s how you force your body to grow.

When you get to the higher end of the rep range, add weight and start over with 5 reps again. Simple, but brutally effective; no advanced calculus degree required.

The bottom line is to get big you have to get strong.

Rule #2: You Have to Use Compound Muscle-Building Exercises

The exercises that allow you to use the greatest amount of weight are the ones that help you build muscle the fastest. These also happen to be the lifts that allow for the greatest percentage of increases in loading. We’re talking compound (multi-joint) exercises here, done with free weights. You’re not going to grow at nearly the same rate with a workout comprising machine exercises and isolation movements.

You have to overload your body with big, manly, testosterone-producing lifts. There’s no way around man.

The best compound weight-training exercises for building muscle are:

● Military (Overhead) Presses – done with a barbell, dumbbell, kettlebell, or log.
● Low-Incline Presses – barbell or dumbbell. I like the bench to be set higher than flat but not as high as 45 degrees. Around 30 degrees is good. This will help protect your shoulders, which are at a greater risk for injury during flat bench presses.
● Squats – back, front, safety bar, Buffalo bar, belt.
● Deadlifts – conventional, sumo, trap bar, Romanian, rack.
● Rows – 1-arm dumbbell, chest supported, landmine.
● Loaded Carries – This can be a farmer’s walk or carrying a sandbag or stone in several positions: bear hug, carried in the bend of your elbows (Zercher), under the chin (racked position), or shouldered.
● Weighted Sled Work – pushing and dragging a sled or Prowler.

Get strong on those exercises, slowly adding weight and reps.

When you can load impressive numbers on those lifts for sets of 5–10 reps, you’ll be one big-ass dude.

Rule #3: Complement the Big Lifts with Body-Weight Exercises

Big compound barbell and dumbbell lifts lay the foundation, but you’ll need more than that for a well-rounded physique and injury-free training over the long haul. Those exercises should be complemented by an equal amount of muscle-building, body-weight exercises, like:

● Chinups
● Dips
● Single-leg squat and lunge variations
● Pushup variations
● Inverted rows
● Plank variations
● Glute-ham raises

Body-weight training builds core strength and stability throughout your body. It’s also easy on the joints, allowing you to blast muscles without straining the connective tissues that they act on.

The combination of big lifts and body-weight exercises will produce an athletic, balanced, muscular physique that performs for the long haul.

Rule #4: To Build Muscle Safely, You Have to Use Perfect Technique

Yeah, this should go without saying, but walk into any public gym and you’ll find that it’s rarely the case. People will lift with any form that allows them to get the weight up, but that doesn’t mean they’ve done a good rep. The perfect set has several components to it. Here’s what you need to do:

● Get tight from head to toe before you lift. Squeeze the bar (or other implement) like you’re trying to crush it. If you’re doing a standing exercise, be sure to squeeze your glutes and brace your abs. Total-body tension creates stability, which makes for stronger, safer lifting.
● Control the lowering or (eccentric) portion of the lift. It helps you control the weight better for safety and creates more damage in the muscle, which contributes to muscle growth. A review in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research indicates that eccentrics should generally take 2–4 seconds to perform.
● Let the muscle stretch in the bottom position, but don’t go so deep that you feel pain. You shouldn’t feel any joint stress, either.
● Start the positive (concentric) portion of the lift by forcefully contracting the target muscles. So, if you’re pushing up from the bottom on a dumbbell bench press, squeeze your pecs first.
● Don’t use excessive momentum. Lift with your muscles, not the stretch reflex. No bouncing reps.
● On big barbell exercises, you should lock out at the top and reset for the next rep. Don’t try to pump out your reps fast.
● On body-weight and dumbbell exercises, you should stop just shy of lockout at the top and immediately reverse the direction. Think constant tension and continuous movement.

Rule #5: Train with the Optimal Amount of Volume to Build Muscle

I said above that you want to spend most of your time getting stronger in the range of 5–10 reps. For younger guys who really want to push their strength gains, 5–8 reps is ideal.

If you’re over 35, or after you have trained properly for a couple of years, you can bump the reps up a bit and start doing more sets of 10–12 reps in addition to 5–8.

When you get more advanced, or you’re over 40 years old, you will want to spend a bit more time in the 8–12 rep range and less in the 5–8 range, simply to protect your joints from the heavy loading and reduce injury risk.

For most intermediate guys, and myself, I like mixing low and high reps in for the same exercise. So, after you get some heavy work in on a lift, do a few sets of slightly higher reps and get a pump.

When you’re doing higher reps, focus on the muscle you are trying to build and squeeze every ounce of effort out of it. Yes, cheesie as it may sound, visualizing the muscles working and growing while you train them can be helpful. A 2016 study in the European Journal of Applied Physiology found that, when lifters thought about their pecs and triceps during a workout, they activated them better.

If you have been training properly for at least three years, you’ll find that advanced pump-enhancing techniques like rest-pause sets, drop sets, and some of the other old-school bodybuilding techniques you’ve no doubt heard of can be effective when used sparingly. Just be sure not to overdo the use of them. And never get away from the most important rule: setting PR’s to get stronger.

While the number of reps you do per set is important, of equal importance is the total number of reps you do per muscle group. The National Strength and Conditioning Association has determined that, to maximize growth, you need approximately 20–70 total reps per muscle group. Depending on which end of a rep range you’re working, this can be done in one session or over a few days (a training week, for instance), but that’s the spread you need to cover to see gains.

That means that if you’re doing 6 reps per set, you need to do at least 3 total sets—and upwards of 12—for that particular muscle group.

I always recommend starting on the low end of the scale. Only increase volume when you absolutely need to. So, if you’re training chest, you could do 6 work sets of dumbbell bench presses to start out, breaking down to two sets per workout for three sessions per week. You can gradually add sets from there, experimenting with different training splits that will allow you to get in more volume without overtraining (we’ll discuss training splits next).

As you get more advanced, you can alternate phases of both lower and higher volume through a properly periodized training program.

Rule #6: Train With the Proper Muscle-Building Workout Split

First of all, you don’t need to train six days a week like a bodybuilder. Three to four hard strength-training days per week is perfect for most steroid-free, genetically-average, busy people.

The best training split is one that allows you to:

● Recover properly.
● Make the greatest strength gains.
● Spare your joints and spine.

The frequency with which you train each muscle group generally decreases as the number of years you’ve been training increases.

Beginners:

If you’re a beginner, you should train with three full-body workouts per week. In each one, do a compound pushing movement (like a bench press), a compound pulling movement (like a chinup), and a compound lower-body exercise (squat, trap-bar deadlift, for example). If you want to add in 1–2 other exercises like loaded carries or kettlebell swings as a finisher, that’s fine, but three exercises is enough to work the whole body.

A 2015 study in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research found that subjects who did full-body sessions three times per week gained more arm size than another group who did a body-part split, hitting each muscle just once.

Intermediates:

If you’ve been training longer than 6–12 months, you can split your workouts into upper- and lower-body days. The most common setup is to train upper body one day and lower the next so that each area gets trained twice in one week. If you train four days per week, you can train upper body on Monday, lower Tuesday, rest Wednesday, and then do upper body again on Thursday, lower body on Friday, and then rest on the weekend.

You should still rely mainly on compound lifts, but adding some isolation work—such as lateral raises for the shoulders and dumbbell curls for the biceps—is acceptable.

If you train three days per week, you can rotate upper- and lower-body days every time you train. It could look like this over the course of two weeks:

Week 1

Monday: Upper body
Wednesday: Lower body
Friday: Upper body

Week 2

Monday: Lower body
Wednesday: Upper body
Friday: Lower body

I can’t recommend this rotating upper/lower split highly enough. I have made incredible gains on it, as have hundreds of clients I have worked with personally, and thousands of others online.

If you train three days per week and prefer to have set training days each week instead of rotating them, here is what I suggest…

Do a heavy upper-body day on Monday, legs on Wednesday, and then a lighter upper-body day on Friday where you bump up the reps slightly and use exercises that aren’t quite as stressful. So instead of a barbell incline press for sets of 5–6 reps, you might do a dumbbell incline press or weighted pushup on rings for sets of 8–12 reps.

Advanced:

An upper/lower split can last you forever. A lot of massive, strong powerlifters stick with that throughout their entire lifting careers. However, if you’re older and/or have some trouble recovering, you may prefer a push/pull/legs split that has you training everything directly once per week. This is how most famous bodybuilders have trained in the past and many still do.

You could do exercises for chest, shoulders, and triceps on Monday, exercises for back and biceps on Wednesday, and exercises for legs on Friday. If you want to do an arm or “beach muscles” day on Saturdays, you can extend it to a four-day per week program.

Most typical bodybuilding programs have way too many sets and reps and use the wrong exercises. However, if you lower the total volume, go heavier, and use compound movements as I’ve outlined above, there is nothing wrong with a body-part split for advanced lifters. In fact, it’s often less stressful to the joints than your average upper/lower split.

As far as the frequency goes, training a muscle group once every 5–7 days is actually safer and more effective for advanced lifters than training it two or three times per week.

If you want slightly more frequency, there are ways to do it without adding more workouts. You can add a lighter set or two of work for a muscle group you need to bring up on days other than that muscle’s main training day. For instance, if you want to target your arms, you can do one or two sets of dumbbell curls to start off your leg days.

Rule #7: “Stimulate, Don’t Annihilate”

This is a quote from eight-time Mr. Olympia Lee Haney. It means you should train hard but smart.

Don’t kill yourself in the quest to get big and strong. When you leave a little in the tank, both at the end of each set and each workout, you increase your chances of making progress.

Don’t take sets to the point of failure—where you absolutely can’t perform another rep. You should never get to where you’re turning purple and screaming like you’re getting interviewed by “Mean” Gene Okerlund before WrestleMania. Most of the time, you want to end your sets two reps before total failure. Not sure when that is? The moment your form breaks down, or you’re pretty sure it’s going to break down, end the set.

A great analogy that I like is that the balance between training and recovery is like digging a hole. Each time you lift, you dig yourself deeper and make it harder to climb out of the hole. To get back out again, you have to fill in the hole to return to ground level, and the only way to fill it is with food and rest. If you overdo it in the gym by pushing too hard, you won’t be able to train as often or at a high capacity. Eventually, you’ll get injured.

Rule #8: Keep Your Conditioning Up

Doing cardio does NOT make you small and weak, even if you’re a skinny hard-gainer to begin with.

Skipping conditioning work, however, WILL make you a lazy, out of shape, fat ass. Conditioning helps you stay lean and athletic, and it improves your recovery between strength training sessions. It’s hugely beneficial and has to be a part of your weekly routine.

My favorite type of cardio? High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT). It’s been proven to be extremely effective at burning fat and boosting conditioning levels while preserving muscle mass.

You should still do a minimum of one 15–30-minute HIIT workout per week even when you are trying to build muscle as quickly as possible. If you are trying to lose body fat, you should do 2–3 HIIT workouts per week.

To do HIIT properly, choose an exercise (or series of them) and go just shy of as hard and as fast as you can for 30–60 seconds. I actually prefer going about 90–95% of your maximum effort for the sake of safety. Then you coast/cruise (or rest, depending on the exercise) for 60–120 seconds. Repeat the sequence for 15–30 minutes, total.

My favorite exercises for HIIT workouts are:

● Sprinting up hills.
● Sprinting while pushing or dragging a weighted sled.
● Sprinting on a bike with the resistance cranked up.
● Kettlebell swings or snatches done for high reps.
● Jumping rope.
● Swimming.
● Rowing (if your back can tolerate it).

In addition to the HIIT sessions, it’s always a good idea to go for a 30–60-minute walk as many days per week as you can. I recommend getting a minimum of 10,000 steps every day. Use a phone app to track them. If you’re into jogging, swimming, hiking, or some other form of long-duration, fairly low-intensity cardio, that is fine to do as well, and as often as you like.

Rule #9: Make Recovery a Huge Priority

Training is just the stimulus for growth to take place. You can train your balls off all day, every day, but you won’t grow from that alone.

You grow outside of the gym when you’re recovering; not during workouts. If you can’t recover, you won’t grow. Plain and simple.

So how do you ensure that you will recover properly from workouts?

By adhering to the following:

● Don’t do more than you can handle in the gym.
● Don’t train much more than an hour at a time.
● Don’t use extreme levels of psyche on every set.
● Keep your stress under control.
● Getting 8-9 hours of sleep every day.
● Meditate.
● Doing at least 15–20 minutes of mobility and self-myofascial release work (like foam rolling) per day.
● Doing some low-intensity conditioning and/or yoga (or other stretching exercises) on off days.
● Taking contrast baths and showers.
● Getting a massage once a month or as often as you can afford to.

Rule #10: Eat For Health and Longevity First and Foremost, and to Gain Muscle Second

No matter how skinny you are, you should never follow an all-you-can-eat diet, gorging on whatever you can get your hands on (including junk food) for the sake of gaining weight. It’s unhealthy and makes you fat.

The healthier you are, the faster you will make progress.

You have to fuel your body with high-quality, real, wholesome food. Eating pizza, burgers, ice cream, and fast food just because it’s high in calories is a really bad plan. You’ll feel terrible, and while the extra calories will help muscle gains to an extent, most of them will turn to fat. It’s not worth it. Your recovery will be slower and you will be riddled with inflammation.

Your diet should consist mostly of the following foods:

● Grass fed meat.
● Organic eggs.
● Wild-caught fish.
● Starches like white rice, potatoes, and quinoa.
● Nuts.
● Fruit.
● Veggies.
● Water.

You don’t have to count calories to put on muscle. Many people find it easier to just track macros (intake of protein, fat, and carbs) based on their body weight.

Eat around one gram of protein per pound of your body weight each day. That’s more than enough. You could probably get away with less, but one gram per pound is a safe target to maximize muscle mass.

Eat 0.4–0.5 grams of fat per pound of your body weight. Fat is essential for hormone optimization, brain function, and joint health. Now, if you’re following a ketogenic diet (or modified keto diet), or you just feel better with more fat in your diet, you can certainly add more fat and lower your protein and carb intake to accommodate it. The 0.4–0.5 grams per pound recommendation just represents a starting point and a minimum so that you don’t eat too little fat, either out of fear that it will make you fat or damage your heart (both untrue). For more about ketogenic diets, see Onnit’s guide HERE.

Eat 1.5–3 grams of carbs per pound of your body weight. As with fat, this amount can vary greatly, depending on your personal needs and preferences, so consider these numbers only a starting point. If you’re very skinny and feel that you handle carbs well (i.e. you can eat a lot of them without getting fat), go ahead and eat according to the higher end of the spectrum. The same applies if you’re desperate to gain weight—you should increase your carb intake. If you’re prone to weight gain or feel lethargic on higher carbs, you should eat fewer of them. Again, see our keto guide for more details and options.

For the sake of mental focus, it’s best to keep any carbs you eat low during the day when you’re working and active and get the lion’s share of them at night with dinner. A typical breakfast could include eggs, yogurt, and fruit, or a shake, and lunch could be meat or fish and steamed veggies. For dinner, have meat or fish again, along with sweet potatoes or rice, and vegetables.

Don’t make the mistake of trying to bulk up when you should be on a diet. While you might have muscle on your mind, most people need to get leaner first. If you’re fat and you start eating for size, you’re only going to get fatter. Get rid of the excess blubber first, to the point where you can see some abs, and then worry about getting big. You should be as low as 12% body fat before you change your diet up to focus on mass gain. That will ensure that your insulin sensitivity is high. When it is, you can eat more carbs and your body won’t store them as fat.

Bonus Rule: Consistency Is King

All of the above information is completely useless if you don’t apply it consistently. I’m not talking about a week. I’m not talking about two months.

The person who makes the greatest progress is the one who is consistently getting in 3–4 workouts per week. The guy who never misses a meal, always gets to sleep on time, spends a few hours per week on recovery techniques at home, and repeats the process 52 weeks per year, year after year. That’s how real progress is made.

You have to commit and you have to believe in what you are doing. You can’t be second-guessing everything all the time. You can’t change your routine every other week. You can’t be on the internet constantly searching for a better program.

There is no magical supplement or yet-to-be-discovered secret training technique that will help you build 100 pounds of muscle in the next three months. Those things will never exist.

The only things that get results are passion, commitment, and hard work. Every damn day.

Lift weights. Eat steaks. Run hills. Sleep. Repeat.

The post How to Build Muscle: A Complete Guide appeared first on Onnit Academy.

With that said, the dumbbell push press deserves mention as a pretty big bang exercise too, and, we’ll argue, offers several distinct advantages over the aforementioned lifts. For starters, it’s much easier to master (technique-wise). It’s also safer, gentler on the joints, and offers major benefits for conditioning as well. We’ll go so far as to say that the dumbbell push press ought to be in every lifter’s repertoire, from beginners to advanced athletes. Here’s how to do it right to build muscle and get ripped.

What Muscles Does A Dumbbell Push Press Work?

The dumbbell push press is, very simply, a standing overhead press done with momentum from the lower body. Holding the dumbbells at your shoulders, you quickly dip and then extend your hips and knees to get the weights moving upward, and then you lock out your elbows with a pressing motion. Because it’s pretty much a full-body effort, the dumbbell push press incorporates several major muscles in the upper and lower body. They are:

Glutes. Your butt muscles are the prime movers during the quarter-squat portion of the exercise. They help flex the hips during the descent and then explosively extend the hips to generate the power that propels the dumbbells overhead.

Hamstrings. They bend the knees in a controlled manner as you dip, and work synergistically with the glutes to extend the hips on the way up.

Quads. The thigh muscles stabilize the knees as you squat and work to extend them when you come up.

Core. The abs, obliques, and spinal erectors all work to stabilize the spine and keep it in a safe, neutral position. The heavier the load, the more your core musculature will be recruited.

Deltoids. The prime mover when driving the weights overhead, the delts are responsible for flexion and rotation of the shoulder joint. If you’re push pressing lighter weights with a powerful leg drive, their role is secondary to that of the leg muscles in this exercise, but still vital. When doing heavy push presses, their role increases.

Trapezius. The muscle that makes your neck look yoked stabilizes the upper back and shoulders. It’s also responsible for stopping you from slumping out of good posture during the lift, rounding your shoulders forward.  

Triceps. The “back arms” work with the deltoids to extend the arms overhead, locking out your elbows.

Forearms. Any time you’re holding a barbell or dumbbell—or just squeezing your fists hard—the forearms are working. In this case, the wrist flexors and extensors stabilize the wrists throughout the exercise.

How To Stretch Before The Dumbbell Push Press

Onnit Durability Coach Natalie Higby (@nat.trill.fit on Instagram), offers these two mobility drills to increase range of motion and stability in your shoulders and upper back before you perform the push press.

How To Do A Dumbbell Push Press

Step 1. Hold a pair of dumbbells at your shoulders with one end of each dumbbell resting on your shoulders. Your palms will face one another, and the handles of the dumbbells should be parallel to the floor. Stand with feet about hip width and brace your core.

Step 2. Drop into a quarter-squat, initiating the descent by bending your knees and flexing your hips back slightly. Keep your head, spine, and pelvis in line so your back is flat and your eyes and head are forward. You don’t want to turn this leg drive portion of the lift into a squat, so only bend your knees enough to get some momentum, and don’t hinge your hips too much. Imagine yourself doing the move against a wall and sliding your torso up and down it—you should be that upright.

Step 3. As soon as you’ve dipped, extend your hips and knees explosively to stand up straight, driving through your heels, and simultaneously press the weights straight overhead. You’ll need to push from your shoulders and triceps, but with a strong and quick leg drive, most of the power for the press should be provided by your lower body. Keep your core tight throughout the move so your spine is stable and safe. Lower the weights back to your shoulders and drop your hips to immediately move into the next rep.

Benefits Of A Dumbbell Push Press

There are two major benefits to doing the dumbbell push press:

1. Increased upper- and lower-body strength and power
2. Improved conditioning

Ancillary benefits include improved core stability, and a strength and power carryover effect to Olympic weightlifting. In other words, if you perform snatches and clean and jerks in your workouts, and you add push presses into your routine as an assistance exercise, you’ll probably see benefits.

The dumbbell push press can’t be loaded as heavy as the barbell version of the exercise, but the challenge to your stability is greater, as you have to control two dumbbells moving overhead at the same time. And because your arms are free to move, rather than being fixed to a barbell and whatever path it may take when you lift it, your joints find the range of motion that’s best for them. In other words, the dumbbell push press is a safer, joint-friendlier push press.

James “Smitty” Smith, a strength coach and co-founder of the Certified Physical Preparation Specialist certification (and owner of Diesel Strength & Conditioning), says the exact gains you’ll see from the push press depend heavily on your “training age”—the number of years you’ve been lifting.

“For beginners using very light weight, there’s a great conditioning benefit,” Smith says. When you’re new to lifting, you don’t have the strength to train very heavy. (The weight may feel heavy to you as a newbie, but 25-pound dumbbells, for example, won’t cause the same kind of overall fatigue and muscle damage that the 60-pounders a more experienced lifter can use will.) Therefore, at this stage in your development, you’ll get more out of the push press doing it for high reps so that you challenge your endurance and conditioning. Smith notes that, “as you use leg drive to get them overhead, the dumbbells feel weightless during that drive phase.” Your shoulders aren’t really doing much work, so the push press won’t blow them up, but banging out lots of reps that work muscle from your legs on up will burn lots of calories and make your heart race.

On the other hand, more advanced lifters who can handle beastly weights can build even more strength and power with the push press, as well as gain conditioning. “That leg drive enables them to use heavier weights than if they were doing a strict overhead press without momentum,” Smith explains. And when you’re lifting, say, 60-pound dumbbells, you’ll be training heavy enough to feel your shoulders pushing that load, regardless of the help they get from your legs. “But your rack position is going to affect how much you can get out of the exercise.”

The rack position refers to the starting position of the push press, where the dumbbells are held at the shoulders while standing tall. This is the same basic starting position used for regular overhead presses, front squats, and many other moves that are derived from Olympic weightlifting (which the push press is), although there are a few variations of it. The best rack position for push pressing is the one explained above in the “How To” portion of this article: palms facing each other with the dumbbells parallel to the floor, and one end of each dumbbell resting on your shoulders.

A second rack position is dumbbells at shoulder level but with the palms facing forward. Most guys simply default to this without knowing any better because it’s how most guys would execute a strict overhead dumbbell press. Push pressing with palms facing forward isn’t necessarily wrong, but by using the same exact hand position as you’d be forced to use during a barbell push press, you’re losing the best benefits of doing this exercise with dumbbells—shoulder safety and range of motion. The first rack position with palms facing each other is much easier on the shoulders, because it allows the upper-arm bones to move more freely through the shoulder joints. There’s more risk of impingement over time with palms-forward pressing—especially for guys who already have tight shoulders, or who carry a lot of upper-body mass. When the dumbbells are held with a neutral grip, it’s also much easier to get them to rest on your shoulders, giving you a little extra distance to press for greater muscle activation.

Palms-forward can also be “a much weaker postion,” according to Smith, due to the fact that a lot of guys are so tight they can’t get the weights to rest on their shoulders, and instead have to work to control the weights in space throughout the exercise (i.e., held slightly in front of the shoulders). This not only fatigues the shoulders much faster, but oftentimes causes the weights to sway back and forth as you do reps, banging into the shoulders and making it harder for you to keep position or press safely.

Still a third rack position exists: holding a single dumbbell, T-boned against the shoulder while the lifter leans away from the weight (see below). This position is often used by strongmen when the competition event is pressing a circus dumbbell or other odd-shaped weight overhead. With this rack position, you press one side at a time, using more of the upper body.

How Do I Use The Push Press In My Workout?

If your goal is to build power for athletics or to improve your ability to do other Olympic lifts, Smith says to place the dumbbell push press first thing in your workout, right after your warmup and before any other strength training sets. With all your muscles fresh and primed, you’ll get the best gains in power by placing it there.

A classic set and rep range for building power would be a relatively higher number of sets, say 6 to 7, with a relatively low number of reps, such as 2 to 4.

If your goal is more geared toward conditioning, or you’re a relatively inexperienced lifter, you can place the dumbbell push press toward the end of your workout, after your strength training sets. For this purpose, you could do 3 sets of 15–25 reps, and you might want to use it as part of a dumbbell circuit where you perform other exercises that can flow together with the push press, such as a bent-over row, Romanian deadlift, and dumbbell clean.

The push press can also be used as a way to cheat out a few extra reps on strict overhead presses. Toward the end of a set, when you feel you can’t do any more regular presses with good form, you can switch to push presses and eke out a few more reps, thoroughly frying your shoulders. The push press can work at the beginning of a set, too. If you’re coming back from a shoulder injury, and you want to do overhead presses but reduce the strain on your shoulders in the bottom position, you can get the weight moving by doing a push press on the first rep. In other words, the first rep won’t begin from a dead stop on your shoulders, which puts a lot of stress on your shoulder joints. As you lower that first rep to completion and begin the next rep, the stretch reflex will kick in—your delts feel like they’re being stretched, potentially into a dangerous position, and so they’ll contract harder to help you lift the weight. Your joints won’t have to “shoulder” as much of the load.

Alternatives To The Dumbbell Push Press

Three exercises that can produce a similar training effect to the dumbbell push press are:

Med-Ball Chest Pass

Throwing a ball for height mimics the push press. In CrossFit parlance, this is known as a “wall ball shot.” Like the dumbbell push press, it’s a pressing motion and it involves leg drive—but from a much lower position. The implement used, however, leads to some key differences. First, the med ball must be held at the chest, meaning your arms are working hard throughout the exercise to support the ball (it’s not resting on your shoulders like dumbbells do in a push press). Second, the ball is released at the top of the move and thrown for maximum height. Some additional work is required as well, as you either have to catch and stabilize the ball as it falls, or gather it up after it hits the ground.

Pentagon-Bar Push Press

This five-sided bar with rotating handles (picture the front half of a trap bar) plugs into a landmine unit and does for overhead moves what the trap/hex bar did for deadlifts and shrugs. The load is perfectly balanced around you, and somewhat stabilized by the base of the landmine unit. The video below will show you how to do a strict overhead press with the Pentagon bar. Just add leg drive to do a Pentagon bar push press

Dumbbell or Kettlebell Snatch

Like the dumbbell push press done with light weight, most of the power for this move is provided by the lower body. When done right, the shoulder acts in a stabilizing capacity—not to press the weight overhead. Just be careful: technique is key and mastery is required to gain maximum benefit and to stay safe.

See our guide to good snatching HERE.

And see our guide to a similar exercise, the dumbbell clean and press, HERE.

The post The Dumbbell Push Press: How To Do It & Get Ripped appeared first on Onnit Academy.

The clean and press was dropped from weightlifting competition because judges deemed it too difficult to assess valid technique (lifting a ton of weight causes you to bend backward, and it’s hard to tell to what degree the knees are bending, and therefore how much assistance you’re getting from them). Though it may have fallen out of fashion, the clean and press is still a worthwhile exercise, and an efficient choice for building muscle, strength, and explosiveness—even if you choose to perform it with dumbbells. In fact, the dumbbell clean and press is arguably a better choice for most people than its barbell predecessor (particularly those of us who aren’t trained Olympic lifters).

The dumbbell clean and press will allow you to access most of the same benefits gleaned from the barbell variation, but without the same steep learning curve or risk of injury. Here’s everything you need to know about the dumbbell clean and press.

What Muscles Does a Dumbbell Clean and Press Work?

The dumbbell clean and press works just about all of the major muscles along the posterior and anterior chains (i.e., the muscles that work together on the back and front of the body). In other words, it’s a total-body exercise.

Starting at the bottom of the body, the gastrocnemius and soleus muscles in the calves work in tandem with the quads, hamstrings, and glutes to drive the weights up from the floor (or hang position; see below) and extend the hips. The abdominals (including the rectus abdominis, transversus abdominis, and internal and external obliques) and spinal erectors provide stability for the spine as you extend the hips and stand up tall.

The traps, lats, and rhomboids contract powerfully to shrug and pull the weights up to shoulder level. As your elbows come under the dumbbells, the muscles of the hands and forearms work hard to maintain grip, while the biceps come under tension, too. To finish the exercise with a press, the deltoids, upper pecs, and triceps fire as the core works to maintain stability.

What are the Benefits of Doing the Dumbbell Clean and Press?

“The dumbbell clean and press develops total body-strength and power, and stability in the shoulders,” says Sean Pangelinan, owner of The Fit Lab in San Diego. Like the barbell clean and press, the dumbbell version has you taking a weight from the floor (or at least knee level) and controlling its path all the way overhead. You can’t ask for a greater range of motion through which to work your whole body, and the result is a total-body workout. Working all those muscles burns a lot of calories for one exercise, so the clean and press is a good move to use when training for fat loss. Though you won’t be able to lift as much weight with dumbbells as you do a barbell, the exercise is still intended to be done heavy, so you’ll build strength and size.

While you sacrifice some loading using dumbbells, they offer a few big advantages over a barbell. For one thing, they make the exercise unilateral. You have to control two weights separately, but coordinate their movement together. That increases the challenge to your core and many stabilizer muscles, including the ones in the shoulders that you need to press safely in any exercise. The dumbbells also offer a slightly greater range of motion than you’d get with a barbell clean and press, and greater range means more muscle activation.

“The dumbbell clean and press is a great introduction to the Olympic lifts,” says Pangelinan, “and is more forgiving for most people who don’t have experience in this area. You get most of the benefits of cleaning and pressing with a barbell, minus the stress on the wrists and other joints. The clean and press is one of the most efficient movements you can do, as it’s a compound lift that engages multiple joints and major muscle groups.”

How To Stretch Before A Dumbbell Clean and Press

Use these two mobility drills, provided by Onnit Durability Coach Natalie Higby (@nat.trill.fit on Instagram), to increase range of motion and stability in your shoulders and upper back before you perform the clean and press.

How To Do A Dumbbell Clean

It’s easier to learn the dumbbell clean and press when you break it down and master its component parts individually. This means starting with the dumbbell clean. A proper clean is not a sloppy curl done with momentum. When done correctly, it’s a full-body movement that builds power. Here’s how to do the clean portion of the clean and press.

Step 1. Place two dumbbells on the floor. You may position them so that the handles are horizontal, right in front of your feet. However, if it feels like they’re too far away to reach, you can place them vertically at the outsides of your feet—or angled slightly inward. If the floor still seems too far away, and you know you won’t be able to pick up the dumbbells without rounding your lower back (don’t worry, this is common), simply start with the dumbbells hanging at your sides.

Step 2. Stand with your feet straight and hip-width apart. Hinge at your hips, bending them back and allowing your knees to bend until you can reach the dumbbells on the floor. You should end up in the same starting position as a deadlift. Grip the dumbbells with your arms straight. Your head, spine, and pelvis should all be aligned.

If you’re starting from a standing position, bend your hips back and allow your knees to bend as needed until the dumbbells hang just outsides your knees. This is called the hang position of a clean, and you can begin the exercise from here.

In either case, draw your shoulders back and downward (think “proud chest”), so that someone standing in front of you could read the front of your T-shirt.

Step 3. Push your feet hard into the floor and squeeze your abs and glutes. Extend your hips and knees to get the dumbbells moving upward.

Step 4. As the weights pass knee level, shrug your shoulders hard, squeeze your glutes again, and allow the momentum to carry the dumbbells up in front of you.

Step 5. Thrust your elbows forward so that they come under the dumbbells and you “catch” the weights at shoulder level, bending your knees to drop into a quarter squat to absorb the force. Your thumbs should be facing backward and your closed palms facing each other.

How To Do A Dumbbell Clean and Press

To perform the full clean and press, clean the weights up to shoulder level as described above. From there:

Step 1. Ensure that your tailbone is tucked under slightly so that your pelvis is parallel to the floor. Brace your core, pulling your ribs down.

Step 2. Press the weights straight overhead to lockout while keeping your ribs down. Reverse the motion to bring the weights back to shoulder level, and then bend your hips back to lower them to the floor (or your knees) again.

How Many Reps Should I Do?

If your goal is power and strength, Pangelinan suggests doing the clean and press for sets of 3 to 6 reps. Three work sets (the challenging ones you do after your warmup sets) is enough. “This is the ideal amount of volume to get the full neuromuscular benefits of the exercise,” says Pangelinan, “without your form being compromised by fatigue.”

However, if you’re aiming to build your endurance and get more volume for the sake of muscle size gains, you could do 3 sets of 10 to 20 reps with a lighter weight. “Just make sure you stop if you begin to slow down or your technique deteriorates,” says Pangelinan. If you’re brand new to clean and presses, train with lower reps first to master the movement, and work on endurance after you’ve gotten the technique down.

Like the other Olympic lift variations, the dumbbell clean and press is a versatile movement that can be done in combination with other movements or with slight variations of technique. You can use the clean portion to get the weights into position for front squats or front-loaded lunges. Called the front rack position (weights held at shoulder level), you can also go into different pressing movements or overhead carries from there. If you want to train heavier or target even more power development, you can perform the press portion with leg drive, making it a push press exercise (shown in the video above). In other words, clean the weights up to your shoulders, and then quickly dip and extend your knees to help power the dumbbells overhead. Pressing the dumbbells strictly is better for shoulder strength and muscle gain, but getting assistance from your legs tweaks the exercise into more of a full-body power move.

At The Fit Lab, Pangelinan’s clients often combine the dumbbell clean and press into a circuit with reverse lunges and Romanian deadlifts. “I’ll also add in single-arm rows to improve scapular control, pushups as an antagonist to the vertical pull component of the clean and press, and single arm floor presses,” he says. Now you have a full-body circuit workout that’s great for fat loss.

Alternatives to the Dumbbell Clean and Press

If you’re not ready for the full dumbbell clean and press, you can regress the movement to something more manageable. If you want to make it even more challenging, there are progressions you can employ as well. See below for some alternatives you can use to customize your training.

Regression

If you’re not able to perform a dumbbell clean and press explosively, or you struggle with one or more stages of the exercise, no need to worry. Pangelinan recommends backing up and working on some foundational moves. “When someone’s struggling with the clean and press, we’ll work on the dumbbell deadlift, upright row, and press, separately, to groove the patterns of each phase of the movement,” he says. “I’ll also have them do quarter-jump squats [lowering your body just one-quarter of the way down], to work on the explosive component, and an overhead waiter carry to improve the integrity of their overhead position.” For the waiter carry, simply press dumbbells or kettlebells overhead and walk for distance or time. Keep your ribs down, core tight, and pelvis level with the floor.

Progression

Once you’ve got the two-handed dumbbell clean and press down, you could start doing single-arm clean and presses (shown in the video above), which add an even greater challenge to your stability and can help you correct any strength discrepancies between sides. “The kettlebell clean and press is another great alternative for someone who’s competent in the dumbbell variation,” says Pangelinan. Kettlebells require even more core stability and grip strength to control, so they’ll develop both areas.

Of course, you can also experiment with the barbell clean and press. “Start with a power clean from above the knees,” advises Pangelinan, “which gives you most of the advantages of the full clean, but with a shorter amount of bar movement, so it’s easier to control.” When that feels comfortable, you can start cleaning from below the knees, and eventually progress to full cleans from the floor.

If you want a more joint-friendly alternative to a classic barbell clean and press, try using a landmine unit (see above). The bar loads into a rotating sleeve that allows it to act as a long lever and move on an arc. The path of motion will be more controlled than doing a pure free-weight movement, but you’ll still have to stabilize it, and you won’t have to deadlift and catch the bar the same way as you do during a normal clean and press, which will take a lot of pressure off your lower back, wrists, and elbows. Still another option is using a Pentagon bar (see below). This barbell alternative offers swiveling handles, so you can get the feel of cleaning a barbell without the wrist and elbow stress, or having to time your clean perfectly to avoid a sloppy catch.

The post Dumbbell Clean and Press: The Exercise Your Body Needs appeared first on Onnit Academy.

Rumor has it, however, that such development is genetic—you have the potential for it or you don’t. Some trainers say that an impressive inner chest is a product of steroid use, and that “natty” lifters just can’t isolate their pecs well enough to etch that kind of definition into their muscles.

But the truth is that—with dedicated, consistent effort—anyone CAN carve out a deeper inner-pec groove. Getting there primarily comes down to mastering three inner pec-focused exercises, and adding one chest workout per week to your routine.

Why Work Out Your Inner Chest?

It’s easy to joke about “guy cleavage,” but most men can’t deny that they would like to have the lines and edges you see on the inner pecs of bodybuilders and physique competitors. Called striations, they make the chest look more imposing and complete, sending the message that you’re a serious lifter who’s put his/her time in at the gym—you’re not just another “bro” or poseur.

But trying to target a specific portion of any muscle is a touchy subject in the strength and conditioning community. “Once a muscle fiber is contracted, there’s an all-or-nothing phenomenon,” says John Rusin, D.P.T., C.S.C.S., creator of Functional Hypertrophy Training. “If you recruit some portion of the pec, you’re going to recruit it all.” In the case of the chest, the same nerves that control the inner part of the pecs activate all the other regions—the upper, lower, and outer pecs. “So, the science will tell you, no, you can’t truly isolate one part of a muscle. But there are ways to target the inner pec fibers to help build that area.”

Rusin says that by focusing your mind on contracting a specific area of muscle (what bodybuilders call the mind-muscle connection, see below), and using exercises that stress contractions in the places you want to target, it is possible to emphasize very specific portions of that muscle for potentially greater development.

Anatomy of the Inner Chest

When it comes to working the inner chest, we’re technically only talking about one pair of muscles: the pectoralis majors. These are the big chest muscles that attach to the sternum. There’s a second pec muscle on each side—the pectoralis minor—but it’s smaller, and doesn’t reach the sternum, so it doesn’t need to be targeted when trying to bring up the inner chest.

The space between where the two pec majors attach at the sternum forms a vertical column. For a well-defined inner chest, these attachment points need to be as built-up as possible, so that each individual pec major is clearly separated from the other one and looks like it’s been carved out of granite. (You’ll have to be pretty lean as well for striations to show.)

There are four anatomical motions that the pec major performs:

• Flexion of the humerus (raising the arm in front of your body). This is accomplished by the clavicular head of the pec muscle—the pec fibers that attach to the collarbone.

• Extension of the humerus (lowering the arm down to your side). This is done by the sternocostal head—the fibers that attach to the sternum.

• Horizontal adduction of the humerus (moving the arm across the front of the body). Both the clavicular and steroncostal heads work together to move the arms in a hugging motion.

• Internal rotation of the humerus (rotating the arm in toward the midline of the body). Again, both muscle heads work together here.

In the gym, you can train all of these movements by using two types of exercises: presses and flyes. Pressing exercises, typically done with a barbell or dumbbells, are considered primary movements for the chest, because they give you the most bang for your training buck. As compound exercises, presses let you lift a lot of weight and activate a lot of muscle. But it’s the lifts that emphasize horizontal adduction (i.e. flye variations) that Rusin says are the most effective for targeting the inner pecs. “If you want to hit those inner fibers, you can’t just be doing bench press, dumbbell bench press, and standard pushups,” he says. “Horizontal adduction is the key to hitting the inner pecs, and it’s one action that most people never truly train optimally.”

Creating A Mind-Muscle Connection for Better Inner-Chest Gains

Bodybuilders speak of the mind-muscle connection as mentally zeroing in on the muscles you’re training to improve their activation. As former pro bodybuilder Ben Pakulski (mi40nation.com) explains in The Men’s Health Encyclopedia of Muscle, written by Onnit Editor-in-Chief Sean Hyson, C.S.C.S., to use the mind-muscle connection properly, you have to picture the two ends of the muscle coming together with each contraction.

In the case of the pecs, the muscles originate at the collarbone and sternum and insert on the humeral bones. When you do a press or flye movement, the insertion points pull closer to the origins. “When I train,” says Pakulski, “I’ll picture what my insertion looks like, and how I’ll bring that closer to the origin.” So, to get the most out of your inner-chest training, visualize the pec muscles’ connection at the top of your arms pulling toward the parts of the muscle that attach at your sternum. Imagine the inner portion of the pec fibers tensing and jumping out from your skin. It may sound woo-woo, but the mind undoubtedly has an effect on the body.

In 2016, a study in the European Journal of Applied Physiology had subjects use the mind-muscle connection during bench-press workouts. When the lifters visualized their muscles working, there was greater activation in the pecs and triceps. Also in 2016, a review in Strength and Conditioning Journal concluded that use of the mind-muscle connection could increase the effect of all factors that contribute to muscle growth, including muscular tension and overall muscle damage.

What Are the Best Inner-Chest Exercises?

Below are Rusin’s three favorite exercises for targeting the inner pecs.

1) Hybrid Flye-Press Combo

As the name implies, this exercise is a cross between a flye motion and a press. You maintain a neutral grip (palms facing each other) and perform an arcing motion with the arms, as in a flye, but you also bend your elbows quite a bit in the down position, like you do in a press.

“The hybrid flye-press combo really targets horizontal adduction at the top of the movement,” says Rusin. “This exercise goes against the belief that you have to do these really long moment-arm flyes,” that is, flyes where your elbows are almost fully extended. While some lifters think it helps them get a better stretch on the pecs in the bottom of the movement, that technique is dangerous for the elbows, and Rusin says it’s not necessary.

You can perform this hybrid move with dumbbells or cables, but Rusin prefers you use cables, because of the constant tension they provide. “With dumbbells, when the arms are in a vertical position, we lose our line of pull,” he says. That is, when your elbow and shoulder joints are stacked at the top of the movement, there’s no tension on the pecs—the weight is just resting on the joints. But when you use cables, the pulley system makes the weight continue to resist your muscles at every point in the range of motion, “and that keeps tension on the tissues through that portion of the movement.”

Note: The hybrid flye-press combo is NOT a standing cable crossover. Rusin wants it performed lying on either a flat bench or with a slight incline (the incline will emphasize those clavicular head fibers more, and therefore give you a better inner, upper-chest hit). “With standing flyes, people tend to compensate too much,” he says. “They increase upper back involvement, and they use the hips, when they should be concentrating on contracting the pecs to get the most out of them.”

How To Do the Hybrid Flye-Press Combo

Step 1. Set an adjustable bench at a slight incline (15–30 degrees), equidistant between two cable columns. Attach single-grip/stirrup handles to the pulleys at the lowest positions.

Step 2. Grasp both handles and lie back on the bench. Your elbows should be bent about 90 degrees. The pulleys should be in line with your shoulders so that the cables run more or less perpendicular to the weight stacks; if this isn’t the case, scoot the bench either forward or backward. If you like, rest your feet on the bench, which will add an element of instability to the exercise.

Step 3. Press the handles up while drawing your hands together so that they nearly touch at the top and your arms are fully extended over your upper chest. Squeeze the contraction hard, visualizing your inner pecs doing the work, and then slowly lower your arms to the start position.

2) Hammer Squeeze Press

Like the flye-press combo exercise, this move combines a pressing movement with an added focus on horizontal adduction, courtesy of squeezing a light medicine ball between your hands.

“This exercise is fricking amazing,” says Rusin. “It will instantaneously activate that portion of the pecs we’re talking about. It’s something that will get you sore in the right kind of way, especially in that inner-pec area. This will blow you up.”

How To Do the Hammer Squeeze Press

Step 1. Set a bench to a 15 to 45-degree incline and hold a pair of moderate-weight dumbbells with a light medicine ball secured between them. The purpose of the medicine ball is simply to have something to squeeze, not to provide additional resistance, so find the lightest ball possible—preferably a leather or Kevlar one that will stay in place and not slip out. (Have a partner place the ball between your hands and squeeze your hands together, or bear hug the ball with the dumbbells and then get into position.)

Step 2. Set up on the bench with your arms extended straight upward and palms facing each other. Press in on the ball by contracting the inner pecs and hold it isometrically. Think about your inner-pec fibers firing hard throughout the whole exercise.

Step 3. Maintaining the squeeze, bend your elbows to lower the dumbbells and ball down to your chest.

Step 4. When the ball touches your upper chest, press back up under control to the arms-extended position, squeezing the ball hard throughout.

3) Diamond Pushup

All pushups are underrated chest-builders. A simple way to target the inner pecs with a pushup is to narrow your hand spacing into what’s commonly known as the “diamond” position: the tips of your index fingers and thumbs touch each other, or close to it, forming a diamond shape between your hands. This will also activate more triceps muscle as well.

“The hardest muscle to build is the one you can’t feel,” says Rusin. “That’s why I like using the diamond pushup. You can feel that inner-pec area working, so you’re more likely to be able to build that area.”

How To Do the Diamond Pushup

Step 1. Assume a standard pushup position with your hands and toes on the floor and your body in a rigid, straight line from heels to head.

Step 2. Move your hands together so that the ends of your index fingers and thumbs are nearly touching each other (the exact distance between them should be whatever feels comfortable to you and won’t aggravate your elbows). The space between your hands will resemble a diamond shape.

Step 3. Bend your elbows to slowly lower yourself toward the floor. When your chest touches your hands, press back up explosively to full elbow extension. As you press up, try to draw your hands even closer together but without actually moving them—just tense the muscles and focus your mind on contracting the inside of your chest.

How Can I Stretch My Pecs?

Rusin doesn’t recommend stretching the pecs before or after workouts. “The shoulder is the most mobile joint in the body,” he says, “so rarely do we need more mobility there.”

He does, however, recommend one stretching technique during a chest workout to increase overall muscle activation, including the inner-pec fibers. He calls it “loaded stretching,” and it’s best utilized on the hybrid flye-press combo exercise.

Here’s how to do it: On your last set of flye-presses, after reaching muscle failure, lower your last rep down as slowly as possible. When you reach the bottom of the range of motion, hold that position for as long as you can (aim for 30 seconds). “This will light up every aspect of your pecs,” says Rusin.

Stretching a muscle under load creates even more tension in it, stimulating a growth response. Loaded stretching is another concept that is explained in The Men’s Health Encyclopedia of Muscle.

Beginner Inner-Chest Workout

The following workout, designed by Rusin, can be done once a week in place of your existing chest workout. You can also train other muscles (i.e. triceps, back, or shoulders) after your chest work in the same session. For the best gains in chest size, you should work your pecs one other day in your training week, either with the same exercises or other chest moves of your choice.

“You’re not training for power and strength with the inner pecs,” says Rusin. “This workout is about hypertrophy [muscle gain], so we’re going to implement higher reps on the inner-chest exercises and more total volume to deliver a good pump. You’ll definitely feel the inner chest working.”

1. Hammer Squeeze Press

Sets: 3  Reps: 12–15

See directions above.

2. Barbell Bench Press

Sets: 3  Reps: 3–8

Step 1. Set up in a power rack if you’re training alone, so you can set the spotter bars to just below your chest to catch the barbell if you can’t press it up. Draw your shoulder blades down and together to arch your back. Place your hands about shoulder-width apart on the bar.

Step 2. Pull the bar out of the rack without losing your arch and shoulder position. Lower the bar to your chest, right at the nipple line, tucking your elbows 45-degrees on the descent.

Step 3. Press the bar to lockout.

3. Cable Hybrid Flye-Press Combo

Sets: 3  Reps: 10–15

See directions above.

4. Diamond Pushup

Sets: 2  Reps: To failure

See directions above.

Advanced Inner-Chest Workout

Also designed by Rusin, this chest routine can be done once per week. The extra volume (and a more advanced diamond pushup variation) makes it slightly more challenging than the beginner’s routine above, but it’s still based on the same exercises that offer the best inner-pec hit.

1. Hammer Squeeze Press

Sets: 4  Reps: 12–15

2. Barbell Bench Press

Sets: 4  Reps: 3–8

Step 1. Set up in a power rack if you’re training alone, so you can set the spotter bars to just below your chest to catch the barbell if you can’t press it up. Draw your shoulder blades down and together to arch your back. Place your hands about shoulder-width apart on the bar.

Step 2. Pull the bar out of the rack without losing your arch and shoulder position. Lower the bar to your chest, right at the nipple line, tucking your elbows 45-degrees on the descent.

Step 3. Press the bar to lockout.

3. Cable Hybrid Fly-Press Combo

Sets: 3  Reps: 10–15

4. Feet-Elevated Diamond Push-Up

Sets: 3  Reps: To failure

Perform the diamond pushup as described above, but rest your fee on a bench or other elevated surface so that your torso is angled down toward the floor.

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